A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I was debating whether or not I should end at this chapter or keep on going...
I've decided to keep going, as you'll see when you reach the end of this chapter. The first section is in a way Hikaru's point of view, but it's told third person, which is why it sounds so... sophisticated for Hikaru. Sorry about that. Enjoy chapter FIFTEEN (edit: now 14 due to deletion of a chapter) of Hide and Go Seek!
I tried making it longer for you guys, I swear, but it didn't get that far...
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Hikaru was running.
Well, to be more specific, he was sprinting. His legs were sore and his arms were pumping, yet he kept running. If he was wrong about Haruhi being in his parents' room, he'd have to run all the way to his and Kaoru's room, which he wasn't looking forward to.
Not that he doubted she was in their parents' bedroom-- he couldn't think of any way she could have slipped into his bedroom without him noticing first-- but he still dreaded even the thought of it. Of course, there was also the thought of what if she had already reached that page? What if she was almost, but not quite, to that page? All the more reason to will his legs to go faster, faster!
He vaguely wondered where Kaoru had gone off too. He had come home, he knew that, for he had been the one to open the door (a/n: refer to chapter 2). Kaoru probably knew all about what was going on, or better yet, had encouraged it. Perhaps he was even with Haruhi, laughing at his brother's horrible hide and go seek skills? No, Kaoru wouldn't laugh at me about something like this, Hikaru reasoned.
Hikaru mentally was torturing himself for having written what he had in that journal. He was positive that Haruhi would hate him for it-- maybe even drop all connections with him! No, no, Haruhi wouldn't do that, she might avoid him but she surely wouldn't cut ties with him.
Maybe, just maybe, Haruhi wouldn't be mad, maybe she'd understand. Haruhi understood things, right? She was the only scholarship student, and she always ranked first on the exams. Certainly she'd understand.
But not many people would, so would she really? Maybe she wouldn't. No, he was sure she wouldn't. She would despise him, she'd be utterly and thoroughly disgusted, she'd possibly even think him a pervert!
Perhaps she'd be so upset with the second to last page that she'd quit reading. But wouldn't that be worse...? He'd have to apologize, no matter what the circumstances, though she might not listen... no, of course she'd listen, she's Haruhi.
Eventually, Hikaru rounded the corner of the hall that finally, FINALLY ended at his desired destination, but right as he was about the grasp the handle...
WHAM.
Everything turned black as Hikaru fell backwards, eyes rolling and all senses suddenly fading as he hit the ground with a thump.
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Haruhi was anxious, to say the least. The stopwatch was oh-so-close to indicating that another 10 minutes had elapsed, and there were only two pages left that weren't blank. Not that she had read ahead, she merely had glanced to see how much longer she'd have to wait to get to the last page.
Kaoru was great company, but it was a bit awkward being alone in a room with someone you had knowingly rejected not that long ago. She glanced towards the window, to be shocked by the curtain of black spread across the sky. How long had she been at this mansion? She snapped her head down, reaching her arm up to pull her sleeve back and looked at her wristwatch, to discover that it was, in fact, 9:37 P.M.
She thought back to that morning, trying to recall what time she had arrived. Not finding any answers, she turned to Kaoru and asked, "Excuse me, Kaoru, do you know what time I arrived here?"
He glanced toward the ceiling, digging into his mind. "I think... I'm pretty sure it was around nine. Might've been ten," he replied after a moment or so.
Haruhi's mind blanked for a second, before she yelled, very loudly if I must say, "I forgot about my dad!"
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Speaking of Haruhi's dad, he, at the moment, was feeling very lightheaded and was very, very, for lack of a better term, pissed off. He had finally gotten a day off, and dammit, he wanted to spend it with his only, and very-lovely-though-she-wouldn't-comply-to-her-father's-wishes-of-her-acting-and-looking-more-like-her-true-gender, daughter!
But of course, this weekend the twins had decided to kidnap Haruhi, HIS Haruhi, and had the NERVE to send their maids who had decided it would be more efficient to tie him up and hang him, always upside down, around wherever they were cleaning.
Meanwhile, those twins were trying to woo his Haruhi or something like that-- he wasn't stupid, he knew that most, if not all of the hosts were trying to steal Haruhi away from him. Well...
...he wouldn't give her up without a fight.
Especially to the blond one.
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When Hikaru opened his eyes, the first thing he thought was 'pain'. The first body part he connected this to was his head. He reached up in what he knew was a futile attempt to cease the pain, which he went through with anyways if only out of instinct, but before he could reach his head felt a sharp jab of pain in his shoulder. "What happened...?" he murmured to himself.
"Master Hitachiin, you were running through the hallway and ran headfirst into an opening door," a voice explained. Hikaru immediately sat up, only to fall back from a head rush. "You also hurt your shoulder when you fell, but we gave you the best pain reliever we had so you should be fine soon enough. If I may ask... why were you running?"
Hikaru sighed. Haruhi obviously had gotten extra time because of this, and would only gain more as he waited for the pain to subside. Even then, he'd have to run back to his parents' room, again- which was around 5 minutes away- and he wouldn't be able to run as fast. Even then, there was the possibility that she had somehow slipped past him and hid in his room at some point, or the possibility that he was wrong and she was somewhere else entirely. She'd surely have read the last page by the time he found her. "I was looking for someone..." he replied, slightly slurring his words. Damn, he was sleepy, despite having just woken up... what time was it? He decided to ask. "What time is it...?"
"Ah, it's almost midnight sir," the woman who had spoken earlier replied, and once again Hikaru bolted up to greet pain, only not as strongly.
"Damn it, that means she's definitely read the last page... oh man, I'm screwed!" he exclaimed, causing the woman, who he assumed was a nurse, to jump a bit.
"Master Hitachiin, if you don't mind me asking, were you looking for Fujioka-san?" she asked, cocking her head a bit.
"You know where she is?" he asked her, with what she took to be enthusiasm.
"Ah, yes sir, she's with the other Mister Hitachiin in your bedroom. When we told them what happened, Master Hitachiin asked me to tell you that they were going to sleep and that you could resume your game in the morning. He also asked me to assure you that there were two pages left, although I'm afraid I'm not quite sure what that means," she replied, smiling a bit at how the young master's face had lit up when she had said two pages. She then continued, "He also banned you from the room for tonight, you are to stay here until morning."
Whatever hope Hikaru had of hiding his journal while Haruhi and Kaoru slept was quickly diminished.
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A/N: Sorry, sort of a cliffhanger, you'll find out why Haruhi hasn't read the next two pages yet and what happened while Hikaru was out cold in the next chapter. Thanks for reading, and remember:
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW, please!