A/N: I noticed how almost all the stuff are cut out. -.- Stupid FF net. I'll change it, meanwhile. I hope this works...

Disclaimer: Dun own.

--

Her eyes opened to meet cloth and she blinked the tears away from her eyes. Her head fell exhaustedly towards his chest and she seemingly relaxed after the horrible dream. Hikaru's features softened as Haruhi started to calm herself down.

"Haruhi, are you okay?" he asked innocently, as her frail body was shivering against him. Hikaru stroked her hair, as he whispered, "It's okay, Haruhi…I'm here…"

The Fujioka broke away from him slightly and hiccupped. "W-What…"

"I came in after explaining my designs and there you were crying," Hikaru clarified, as he gently grabbed both of her arms. "You…normally don't cry."

Haruhi's eyes met his hazel orbs. At the moment of remembering her harsh dream, Haruhi grabbed Hikaru's hand, the one that she held in her dream.

Hikaru blinked as she fingered the bandage that was wrapped tightly around his wrist. "Eh?"

"Hikaru, why's your wrist bandaged?" Haruhi suddenly asked looking up at him. She stared at his forehead as he answered.

"Uh…I…accidentally cut myself there."

And then she noticed that his head was wrapped with white material. The Fujioka's fingers wandered up to his, as if trying to find the hole where the bullet went through. How weird. She then asked, "Your forehead?"

"I fell down the stairs."

"…"

She let her hands fall from his forehead, and sighed. 'Strangely…these injuries sound like they stem from suicidal attempts…'

"You had a bad dream didn't you?" the Hitachiin said, putting a hand on the Fujioka's head. Haruhi looked up at him preparing herself for a 'Tamaki' treatment. "You poor girl, you cried so hard." He hugged her sympathetically and tightly. "I left you alone when I should've been there to comfort you."

Haruhi stayed silent as she sweat dropped at his statement. She then muttered, "I'm sorry, Hikaru. Just had a weird dream."

Remembering something, Hikaru asked, "Can I ask why you were crying my name over and over again?"

The Fujioka stayed silent, as she stared somewhere else. Grim lines appeared on her forehead. "I'm sorry, but I forgot why," she lied, hoping that he would buy the excuse. He didn't react but kept hugging her.

'If I said I cried because he died, than he's going to react…like Tamaki-sempai…'

"It's okay, it's okay. Big brother's here, so you don't have to be scared," Hikaru said airily, he closed his eyes and sighed into Haruhi's hair. "Do you need me to hug you and comfort you all night?"

"It's…fine."

The Hitachiin pulled away from her and his features turned serious. He brought his hand up to her cheek, he affectionately stroked it with the back of his hand. His golden eyes narrowed slightly, "But…you…really scared me."

Knock, K-chack

"Hikaru? Just what are you doing with that girl?"

Silence.

"Okaasan!" he exclaimed, springing apart from Haruhi. A gorgeous woman stood at the doorway looking at him for an answer. Her foot seemed to be tapping against the floor impatiently. "She had nightmare, so-"

The next moment his mother, known as Yuzuha, was pulling hard on Hikaru's cheek, and Haruhi was staring at them with a sweat drop. "Hikaru, it's not nice to manipulate a girl in your own bed. And I'm assuming this is your classmate?"

Hikaru collapsed on the floor, rubbing his reddened chin. Yuzuha shot a seemingly icy glance at Haruhi. She responded by freezing up. "Y-Yes."

The woman's features softened as she approached Haruhi. She stared into Haruhi's eyes with her own hazel eyes. Sweat started to drip down her forehead, as the stare intensified.

"EYAHHH! HOW ADORABLE!" the twins' mother exclaimed, while grabbing the Fujioka into a hug. "You must be the first to try my designs once they come out!" Yuzuha hugged Haruhi and gave her the same treatment that Hikaru gave her earlier. "Poor little girl, falling victim to my Hikaru's horrible fashion sense."

She gave Hikaru a cold stare. "How dare you! Ruin this cutie's appearance with these ragged clothing!"

Yuzuha returned to snuggling Haruhi in her arms, as Hikaru's eyes widened and he sputtered, "W-What?! But you designed them!"

"Yes, that's true," the woman said bluntly. A sweat drop came on Hikaru's head. Her attention went back to Haruhi. "Did my Hikaru spoil you to himself?" Not waiting for an answer, Yuzuha shifted an icy glare at Hikaru. "Hi. Ka. Ru! What did you do to this girl?"

At the mention of Haruhi, Hikaru's eyes twitched. "Okaasan, I didn't do anything I swear!"

'The twins…I can tell…' Haruhi thought to herself. She started to get dazed of the perfume that completely cloaked Hikaru's mother. 'They take after their mother.'

Yuzuha, thankfully, pulled away from the Fujioka before she turned any darker than blue. "My! She looks pale, Hikaru. What'd you do to her?"

Hikaru was grumbling at her. He lost all breath to converse with her stubbornness. "Okaasan."

"Mm. Your nightwear gotten all soggy," Yuzuha noted while she fingered Haruhi's pajamas. "Sweat?" Casting an intensified glare at Hikaru. "What naughty things have you been doing?"

"…It's called nothing; she had a nightmare and was crying."

"Come darling," the Hitachiin mother said, escorting Haruhi out of the room. "I shall introduce you to a proper nightwear!"

Haruhi stifled a sigh and sweat dropped, as she was trudged out the door.

Hikaru jumped onto his feet and ran after them. "Okaasan! Where are you going?"

Yuzuha didn't answer but said, "Hikaru, dear, you can come if you want! Miyumi-san!" The woman had already dragged Haruhi out onto the stairs. "Prepare the limousine to take us to THE WORKSHOP!"

"Kaasanya?" Hikaru yelled more informally, as he tried grabbing Haruhi back. His mother, however, had already taken her out of the mansion. "Isn't it too late?"

Yuzuha dragged the first years towards the limousine door. She laughed as the chauffer opened it for them.

"Hikaru, dear, it's never too late for fashion!" As the woman cackled, Haruhi sweat dropped.

'These people…always have metaphors for style,' She blinked and then looked at Yuzuha. 'Why isn't she fazed that a threat letter had been sent though…and I thought his mother wasn't doing well…and…'

"Kaasanya…you're going too overboard," Hikaru mumbled, as they got into the car. He leaned outside the window and then tossed a glance at his mother and the Fujioka. A vein appeared on his forehead as he noticed that she wasn't paying attention to her.

This must be how Tamaki feel like whenever the twins do that to Haruhi.

"Okaasan, stop hugging Haruhi!" he exclaimed, attempting to grab the Fujioka back. The mother tore her away from him and grinned widely.

"So desuyo? That's a wonderful name, Haruhi dear," the woman said to the girl who was seemingly suffocating. Her sweetness melted as she glanced at Hikaru. "Besides it's not your turn yet!"

A blush came onto his face, and he grabbed Haruhi's arm. "You've been smothering her for at least half an hour already!"

'…they're pretending like Kaoru never existed,' Haruhi thought in her mind. A sweat drop came on her head.

"Hikaru, dear, have I not told you to have patience?" Yuzuha said in a sickly sweet tone.

"Okaasan!"

---

"This is the broom closet!" the president exclaimed, thrusting a door open.

Haruhi gaped while Hikaru sweat dropped. Laying in front of them was a lot of cleaning materials, buckets, forgotten clothes, etc…

Silence.

"Um…okaasan, is it necessary to introduce her to the broom closet?"

"Ah, that's right," she recited pulling Haruhi away from the closet. Yuzuha then proceeded to drag Haruhi into her office which was a very large room.

Sofas and benches were placed random around, there were those creepy looking mannequins wearing the latest fashion. There weren't any windows, lots of pillars, and gigantic table smack dab near the far end of the room, not to mention having row of chairs lined up in neat rows.

Yuzuha dragged Haruhi into a room that connected to the gigantic one. As Hikaru was about to follow, the door slammed in his face. He grumbled under his breath.

Hikaru grabbed the doorknob and proceeded to open it but it resulted in a…

Click

'She locked me out.' He thought bluntly. Hikaru proceeded to pound on the door. "Okaasan! What's with locking me out?"

Inside a faint reply yelled, "Men cannot see women's pure skin! So be good, Hikaru dear." She ended in a bark, "AND SIT OUTSIDE!"

Hikaru grumbled and he sat on a bench outside of the closet. He swore he could hear his mother rummage through the infinity plus racks that hung around walls. There were so many clothing bunched inside, the closet was slightly smaller than the 'room' that he was sitting in.

He then heard a slight clanking that signaled that Yuzuha found an outfit.

"Um," Haruhi's voice said.

"Yuzuha's fine," his mother said distractedly. Hikaru imagined the devious woman had her brains whirring.

"Yuzuha-san, the twin's seem to take after you a lot," Haruhi said.

Hikaru rolled his eyes at that. She should've known that the twins did have their mother's personality.

"Mm, I noticed." Yuzuha replied very blandly.

Hikaru sighed; well his mother didn't say anything drastic…yet. I mean, of all the countless times when those customers showed up to Yuzuha. Hikaru experienced it before. When his okaasan picked out a perfect outfit, she'd scream, the customers would wail. And it got worse if the customer was cute.

A light blush came onto Hikaru's cheek. 'But then…Haruhi's cute…' He shook his head, the blush still lingering. 'Why am I thinking Haruhi as cute? She's just a classmate…and my little brother…'

"Here you go, Haruhi darling!"

…

"WAIT! Haruhi's cute!" Hikaru yelled, but he was completely silenced when he heard Haruhi whimpering…or something like that. His eyes widened at it, and he jumped off the bench.

"Do I have to?"

"Haruhi, darling, remove your clothing at once!"

SHOCK

The remaining Hitachiin twin scrambled towards the door. "What are you doing in there?! Haruhi?! Are you okay?!"

Randomly a fly appeared on his nose, and he swatted it away but it then traveled to his shirt collar. Not that he cared so much for it; he was more concerned about his classmate and her life.

There was an eerie silence that drifted in the closet. His nerves got worked and he began to speak, "Haru-"

WHAM

The door was blasted open and it smashed the poor Hitachiin into the wall. "Hikaru, dear!" Yuzuha yelled, while her unmerciful force crushed the door that crushed Hikaru, whose body crushed the poor fly against his white t-shirt.

MURDERER!!

But the fly was annoying, so no one really cared for it. Except its guts that were an icky green splat near his collar. How wonderful.

Peeling himself off the wall, the Hitachiin shook his head of the little dancing birdies that swirled around his head. Hikaru looked at Yuzuha and was about to fire a retort at her, but the sight of Haruhi stopped him dead.

A blush came onto his face, as he saw what the cute girl was wearing. She wore a loose white dress that went knee length, but there were silk pants covering the rest of her skin. On top of her dress was…something related to a poncho, you know the one you wear in the rain? But it was a much shorter poncho, and it wasn't a poncho. A long pink ribbon dangled from the top of the shirt.

The pajamas being silk, the cloth draped over her shoulders delicately. On her feet were night shoes with pom-poms and bells on the tip. It would jingle every moment she would step. Covering her head was a hat with cloth bunny ears dripping over the sides.

"O…okaasan…" He mumbled in awe, while sticking up a thumb. "Good job!"

Yuzuha rubbed her chin, as a thoughtful look came about her face. Her face lit up and she snapped. "I know!"

Haruhi strayed away from the two Hitachiins and collapsed on the bench. 'What's with this get up? It's so…out of a fairy tale book. It's not winter or anything.' Haruhi was interrupted when Hikaru screamed her name in desperation.

As she looked up, the twin was dramatically crying while being dragged into the closet by Yuzuha. The door slammed and then clicked. She sighed, and looked elsewhere.

'Yuzuha-san and Hikaru…I can tell. Even if they're covering it up, they care deeply for Kaoru. But they don't dare talk about him…' Haruhi thought, trying her best to ignore Hikaru's screams and yells inside of the closet.

There was a muffled yell from his mother.

BAM

And a very looking distorted Hikaru was pushed out into the room. Haruhi stared at him, while a rebellious blush was on his head. Yeah, in short terms he was wearing the same thing like Haruhi.

Oh God no, he's not wearing a frilly dress!

Well, if you squint you can see that it's a t-shirt. Nice bunny hat as well.

Hikaru's shoes jingled as he turned around to point at his mother, and being the offended little twin his was he yelled. "Why'd you do that?!"

"Meh, doesn't it look cute?!" Yuzuha said, as he shoved Hikaru to Haruhi's side. He fell next to her on the bench, as she swished in front of Haruhi. "I never knew this would fit you, Haruhi darling. I was afraid it was too big."

Haruhi pushed up the bunny hat from her head and noticed that her pants were crunched against her shoes.

'Is it possible that this was meant for Kaoru?' Her eyes widened as she came to a fact. 'Kaoru's…getting replaced by me!'

--Hitachiin household

After the two classmates trudged in through the door, every maids and butlers were surprised to see the two of them in those weird pieces of clothing. Haruhi didn't seem to mind but Hikaru was getting frustrated; only when he and Haruhi arrived to their room, he ripped off the bunny hat and poncho-like attire.

"I can't believe she dragged us off for that long!" Hikaru grumbled as Haruhi walked over to their bed.

"Well, since it's this late, I guess we should turn in," Haruhi said, while crawling back into her side of the bed. Hikaru shrugged as he turned off the room light, approaching the bed, he switched on the lamp shade next to them.

"Hey…Haruhi," the Hitachiin started. The Fujioka looked at him curiously. "You…look cute."

She laughed silently and sat up. The bunny hat had to be pushed up on her head again, "I heard that a lot."

They sat in silence, not knowing what to say. That is when Haruhi broke the quietness. "Hikaru, I have something to tell you."

"Go ahead."

"Do you think of me as a replacement?" she asked ever so bluntly. Hikaru stared at her in surprised. "Because…I noticed. Your okaasan acted like she had been doing well. Was it because she saw the 'Kaoru' in me as well?"

The twin stayed silent, and Haruhi continued. "I'm not Kaoru, Hikaru. I'm not him. I will never be him," she said seriously. "You're running away from reality, you and your okaasan. If this goes any longer…" She paused and decided to elaborate. "If I continue to be your 'little brother', if I continue to be pampered like this, Kaoru will soon be lost out of your minds."

She took a short breath, and thought of what to say next. "What if Kaoru does come back? Will you notice your mirror image? Or will you be fantasizing over me?"

"…um," the Hitachiin trailed softly. "I…had been thinking a lot. I thought you were a brother. But…you actually aren't. You're just Fujioka Haruhi." He then looked at her with a slight blush. "Uhm! Haruhi! Is it wrong to…uh…"

Haruhi blinked at him urging him to continue. He crunched the bed sheets underneath his hands together into a fist. "What is it, Hikaru?"

"…Is it criminal if I think you look cute?"

"Hikaru, that's the weirdest question you asked me today," Haruhi said tiredly, leaning back against the wall. Unknowingly, Hikaru advanced towards her until they were a good talking distance away and after he had climbed over the 'wall'.

Hikaru looked at the bed and asked softly, "Can I tell you something?"

"Mm?" she replied dazedly.

Hikaru ruffled his hair and then muttered. "I…I think…I might like you." A blush came onto his face, as the girl blinked out of her dazedness. "I don't know myself…but…I like you. Not in the brotherly way."

At this point, this is where Haruhi was supposed to unknowingly break his heart with a blunt answer. Had he not provide the last part of the sentence, she would've done that. All Haruhi did was blink at his confession, as he unconsciously leaned towards her pinning her against the wall.

His face was awfully close now and his mouth was just inches away. "I…think…I love you…"

And his lips ventured real close to hers. Now, all Haruhi heard in the room was the sound of her heart increasing as a blush started to creep onto her face. The Hitachiin's hand traveled up to her face and cupped it gingerly, and his head tilted a bit.

"Hikaru…?" she breathed.

Feeling a cold shudder splash against him, he scrambled backwards and tripped over the wall of sheets. His head was lowered immediately to hide the large blush on his face and at the same time-

-Choo!

"E-Excuse…me," he feebly said.

Haruhi's eyes were wide open as Hikaru's head jerked up from staring at the bed. An awkward smile was planted on his face as he reached to rub his nose. "Uhm! That's just what I thought! Well! We better go to sleep!"

Hikaru then immediately switched off the only light that was illuminating in the room. He slid into a sleeping position and tugged the covers over him. "Good night, Haruhi!"

Haruhi placed a hand over her beating chest. Hikaru had invaded her privacy that close before, but that was only a light tease. The Fujioka calmed herself down before looking at Hikaru's back.

She was expecting the Hitachiin to speak up and say something to clarify his sudden confession. But after watching him for minutes and seeing no reaction, Haruhi decided to go to sleep.

-----

That night was peaceful; Hikaru didn't have another nightmare concerning Kaoru. Haruhi's didn't have the strange dream about anyone dying. But the confession had been bugging her even thought she slept. Haruhi couldn't help but muse over what he had said, and about the fact that a boy was about to kiss her. Luckily…he pulled away…

That morning…

Hikaru felt the sun rain down on his eyes mercilessly, and he sat up from his bed. He shielded his eyes from the blazing sun and allowed his hazel orbs to get used to the light.

His pajamas were soaked with sweat, and he crawled out of bed. Hikaru was distracted by the sounds of the birds chirping outside. Careful not to wake Haruhi up, he stood up from his bed and made it to the window. His golden eyes stared out of it and peered down into the lush garden below.

As he grabbed his clothes and swapped them with his night wear, a thought couldn't help but start to bug at him. He already told/confessed his feelings/love to Haruhi, and everything in his life felt complete. He felt that he could do whatever he wanted, nothing bothered him right now…

If it meant Kaoru…he didn't care.

'Because, I know what to do in that circumstance,' Hikaru thought as he approached the sleeping form of Haruhi. He grabbed the sheets and pulled them over the Fujioka. Hikaru stared long and hard at her, as his fingers gently played around with her brown hair that was on her forehead.

Hikaru exhaled deeply and stood up from the bed. Taking a swift look at the sleeping Fujioka, Hikaru slipped out of the room. He walked down the grand stair cases and walked towards the backyard door.

Emerging into one of Hikaru's and Kaoru's play area, the Hitachiin wandered over to where a pond and a wide flat stone were. He had gotten onto his knees while staring at the wide pond, the shade of the large tree next to it relieved him of the sun. He could see very clearly the clouds pass in the crystal water.

"Look, Hikaru!" a small twin exclaimed. It was obvious that the two little twins had skipped out on their bedtimes, and they were now crouched over the wide pool of water. Kaoru pointed a finger at a big round white object floating on the surface of the pond.

"Amazing!" Hikaru cried, as he splashed his bare feet into the cold pond water. His hazel eyes were set on the big round moon that was being reflected in the water. "It's very big…and white."

Kaoru looked at it and leaned back from the edge, "It must be happy. Before, I saw a half moon. It seemed lonely up there in the darkness."

"Was that because it wasn't full?" Hikaru asked, looking intently at his mirror image. Kaoru laughed a soft one.

"Yeah! And now. It's big and white, it's whiter than before! It must be smiling," Kaoru said airily, one of his hands traveling to his twin's unoccupied one.

"That's right…we're like Moon-san…when you're gone from me, I felt lonely," the elder twin said sadly. Hikaru gripped his twin's hand tightly.

"And when we're together, we're smiling," Kaoru ended with a smile on his face. He turned towards Hikaru and stared at him with his big hazel eyes.

"I know! Let's make a promise! We'll never separate! So we won't feel lonely," Kaoru said, holding out a pinky at Hikaru. His face fell slightly. "But, when we die. We have to die together, so one of us won't be older than the other in the after life! Promise?"

Hikaru smiled widely at Kaoru and intertwined his pinky with his own. "Promise! And I'll do whatever it takes to protect it!"

"Mm!"

Hikaru sighed as he leaned back slightly from the pond. Hikaru still remembered their promise; it hadn't left his mind once. Even though they were children, Hikaru meant every single word that he had said. If Kaoru went…he would have to follow.

Hikaru looked down at his reflection and saw that it was frowning back at him. A leaf from the large tree floated down and distorted his mirror image.

"What if he already died?" Hikaru asked himself. He felt a sense of hurt build up in his chest. "Then does that mean…I have to go now?"

The frown that was on his lips lifted into a gentle smile, as his finger touched its reflection. "Don't worry, Kaoru…" he said to himself. "I'll follow you."

Hikaru's spirits lifted slightly as his image in the water smiled back at him…something that Kaoru would do. He repeated in reassurance. "I…will…" His smile faltered as the image became indistinct as wind blew across the surface. He ended in a sigh, "Follow you wherever you go…"

"Hikaru!" Haruhi's voice interrupted. He took his hand off the water and sat on his knees, as his gaze shifted towards her. "Jeez! You almost made me think that you went off and jumped off the building!"

Hikaru stood up from the ground and dusted his pants. "What are you talking about? If Kaoru's dead then so be it. I'll die after him."

'That wasn't what I was thinking…' Haruhi thought as she frowned at him.

Hikaru looked at her neck and smiled that she had the ribbon tied there. He touched it, while murmuring, "Looks good..."

"Thanks."

The Hitachiin withdrew his fingers, and looked away. He said randomly, as the wind blew at his hair. "It's soon."

"Yeah."

Hikaru chuckled to himself. "I hope Okaasan knows what she's doing. She didn't seem to be able to rack up 5 million US…"

The Fujioka only remained silent as she turned her attention towards a maid who had escorted four people into the garden. Recognizing the group who arrived in the garden, Haruhi tapped Hikaru's shoulder. "They're here."

--

"Hikaru, your mother's unable to access her money at the moment," Kyouya said seriously, his hands resting on his lap. Honey, Tamaki, and Mori nodded in unison, already having the information told to them.

"Someone locked the account," Tamaki butted in. "When she tried yesterday, it denied her access. Of course, this lock is a ban for only two days. Apparently this is tomorrow."

"Exactly," Kyouya picked up, pushing Tamaki out of the conversation. "Not only the access to the money was banned, your mother's position of president had been in question and the forms of that can only be completed in two days time. Do you understand, Hikaru? This is the doing of one person, and that person probably wants Kaoru to die."

Hikaru looked at Kyouya critically. "You're not kidding right? Who has a grudge against Kaoru? Who's smart enough to do that? All the top students in Ouran are either in the Host Club or don't know who Kaoru is!"

Kyouya shrugged as he crossed his arms. "I'm not really sure, but I'm sure that Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai caught the details in the network."

Mori and Honey nodded together. The little blond started first, losing all his loli-shota charm. "We were asked to stay at Kyou-chan's house yesterday, and we happened to be near one of the big computers. As a man tried to decode the password and to figure out why the account was banned, he said: 'No one can do this! It's too difficult, unless they are real enemies of the Hitachiin and knows the economy of it real well, will he be able to do this.'"

Mori continued in a deep voice. "Putting the president's name in question was just as hard. The release forms sent in were twice the amount of normality. It was sent in a complicated format and was estimated that it would take the amount of two days to complete. Too late to save Kaoru."

Tamaki sprung into the conversation, "This was deliberately planned yesterday, so that the day when the forms were completed and when the ban was over, it's be too late."

Hikaru stared at the floor of the limousine, the fists that rest on his pants tightened. In a calm voice, he asked, "So what do we do now?"

Kyouya gave a strained smile at him. "We're going to see Kaoru one last time."

A/N: Woo. How sad. Terribly sad. WHO DUNNIT?!! O.O; KILL AND MAIM! No. Seriously, don't. xD; Anyhoo. Thanks for reading, it'll be over soon. Anyways. REVEIW!

Thank you! Until next time. ;)

-Demi