Laughter echoed down the hallways on Friday. It was the day of the dance and everyone was excited. Girls were rushing out of school to get ready promptly before seven 'o' clock. Kaoru walked with Hikaru, Tamaki, and Kyoya as they made their way down to the front entrance of the school.

"I can't believe out of all of us, Kaoru is the only one with a date," Hikaru moaned, wobbling on his crutches in front of Kaoru.

"That's because you all are sad and pathetic," Kyoya said smugly.

"I don't your date anywhere, Kyoya. You shouldn't be talking!" Hikaru snapped back playfully. His face was pulled into mock hurt.

"Unlike you fools, I could get a date if I tried," he replied, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Tamaki scoffed. "I would be going with Haruhi if it weren't for Kaoru," he pouted to himself.

Kaoru shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck, blushing. "You could still take Haruhi to the dance. I wouldn't mind."

"Really?" Tamaki cried, perking up.

"No way!" Hikaru said, waving one crutch between the two like a barrier. "She's your date, Kaoru!"

"But-" Kaoru started.

He was interrupted by someone shoving him in the back, causing him to stumble forward just slightly. "Hey, you jerk! Stop trying to pawn me off!" Haruhi hollered.

"Haruhi!" Kaoru said in surprise, jumping back. "Aren't you supposed to be doing girl things like putting on your face or something?"

She looked at him incredulously. "And what is that supposed to mean?" Haruhi attacked Kaoru, making the rest of the group laugh.

"Don't worry, Haruhi," Tamaki said, watching her pull Kaoru into a headlock, "I can take you to the dance instead!"

She turned an evil glare onto him.

"You better watch out! It looks like she's going to murder you," Hikaru laughed.

Haruhi rolled her eyes and pulled Kaoru out of her hold and helped him up with a renewed smile. She hugged a dazed Kaoru to herself. "Well, I and my boyfriend here need to get ready, now!"

"BOYFRIEND?!" Tamaki roared.

Kaoru's red face darkened further. "Don't listen to her, Tamaki!"

Haruhi laughed, casting a sly grin at Tamaki, before pulling poor Kaoru away from the group in the direction of the parking lot.

Hikaru was still laughing. "Tonight's going to be awesome!"

Haruhi slowed the car down in front of their houses and rolled into her driveway. She parked but did not park the car. "Are you cool with 6:45?"

"For what?" Kaoru asked, snapping out of a daydream.

Haruhi poked him on the forehead. "Idiot. I was telling you that we should meet at my house at 6:45, okay? Then we won't be too early. Sound good?"

Kaoru nodded. "Easy."

"And make sure you look good. Take another shower or something."

Kaoru leaned forward to look in the side-view mirror, clawing his fingers through his hair. "Why? Do I look bad?"

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just don't be late, okay?"

"Got it," Kaoru said, opening his door.

They departed and Kaoru went into his house unceremoniously, kicking off his shoes, dumping his bag at the door, and walking into the kitchen. As soon as he walked into the kitchen, there was a flash of light, scaring the crap out of Kaoru.

"Got it!" Emi cried, waving a camera at him.

Kaoru looked at her oddly but with a smile. "What are you doing?"

She grinned widely. "I'm taking the before picture for this scrapbook page I'm making of your dance tonight."

Kaoru groaned, throwing his head back. "Are you seriously doing that?"

"Of course," Emi said in the utmost seriousness. "Why wouldn't I document the day of your first dance?"

"This isn't my first dance."

Emi hushed him. "To me it is, so be quiet. Don't ruin it for me."

Kaoru went into the fridge and grabbed out the gallon of milk and put it on the counter. "I'm pretty much being forced to go by Haruhi, so I really wouldn't get too excited," Kaoru said. He grabbed a glass from the cabinet and began pouring a glass of milk for himself. "Want some?"

Emi shook her head, leaning on the counter with the camera still in her hands. "You aren't allowed to tell that to me either. You must lie and tell me that you asked that girl out and that the two of you are madly in love."
Kaoru shook his head, rolling his eyes, as he put away the milk. "Never gonna happen."

She laughed. "Don't crush a mother's dream."

He grinned at her. "So where's Ryota?"

"He's working late again tonight." Her face turned a bit troubled suddenly. "Though I don't know when he left. I didn't hear him. I was working from home all day, I should have heard him."

Kaoru shrugged, drinking his milk. "I'm sure he's fine. I wouldn't be too worried."

"Oh!" Emi said, her face lighting up. "I have something else to show you." She put camera in one hand and grabbed Kaoru's hand in her other. "Come with me!"

Emi pulled Kaoru up the stairs and into her room. Kaoru sat down on the bed as Emi threw open the closet door. She began to shuffle through some storage boxes. Still holding his glass of milk, Kaoru took a last swig and put the glass down on the night stand to watch her. "What are you looking for?"

"Don't worry, I've got it. It's just down here." She dug for a second more before standing abruptly with something in her hands. "There it is!" Spinning on her heels, Emi came to sit down by Kaoru and she passed a sheet of paper into his hands.

"What's this?"

"I got it today," she explained. "It's a contact list for my son. He lives only a town over from us; isn't that kind of cool?"

"That's awesome!" Kaoru said warmly. "Are you going to go see him?"

Emi shook her head. "No, I don't want to intrude. I'm just happy to know that my son is living happy."

"Wait, what?" a voice suddenly interrupted.

Emi and Kaoru froze immediately at the sound of the voice they feared the most. Please, Kaoru prayed, please don't let this be real.

Kaoru was the first to look up. Ryota was standing in the doorway looking bat-shit crazy. His arms were shaking and he flexed his fingers irregularly as if he were unaware he was even doing it. Emi spoke up, looking at him warily, "Ryota… we should get today's medicine."

"Fuck the medication! What did I just hear?"

Kaoru's breathing went shallow and his mind raced. He quickly tried to put Emi's paper behind his back but Ryota caught the movement. "What the fuck did you just put behind your back?" Ryota demanded.

Glancing once at Emi, Kaoru forced himself to say, "Nothing."

Ryota struck his face before Kaoru could even blink. Kaoru cried out, dropping to the floor as the pain radiated through his nose. He held onto his pained nose, panting hard. Ryota reached down and ripped the paper from Kaoru's hand, slicing a paper cut across Kaoru's palm. He paid no attention to the small cut as he sat back in fear to watch Ryota read the document. He uncurled the document and started to read it. As he got further and further down, his face became grimmer and grimmer.

Suddenly Emi yanked Kaoru to his feet. "We need to go!"

Gotta go to class. Sorry for any errors.