A/N: fyi, lots of stuff goes down this chapter. (tw: head injury)

The graduation party was probably one of the best nights of Kyoya's life. Of course, he had to get through the first three hours entertaining his father's as well as Suoh-san's friends and business partners. It was made more bearable because Tamaki was beside him most of the time. The blond was way more interesting than the vast majority of the men in the room. However, once everyone had left, Suoh-san and Kyoya's father went off to enjoy each other's company alone, and the daytime staff went home, it meant the real party had started.

The twins went about setting up music while everyone began setting the coffee table in the den for dinner. The host club gathered around, sitting on the floor while they dug into the meat, vegetables, and rice. They carried on like that for a few hours, just talking and enjoying each other's company with full bellies. They eventually got up and became more active. Dancing and singing along, with tone-deaf voices for some of the hosts, they spun and twisted around each other with a few playful shoves here and there.

Kyoya was content to sit on the floor in front of the couch with a soda in hand and watch. However, Tamaki had different plans. He pulled Kyoya off the ground by taking the hand not holding a beverage and forcing him to twirl.

"Come on, Mama, let's dance."

Kyoya wanted to punch Tamaki, a thought he had so often after hearing that nickname, yet he pushed the angry reaction to the back of his mind. The only indication of his anger was the small frown and rolling of eyes he did.

"Only if you don't step on my toes." Kyoya responded, sitting his drink down.

"You really think I'm so much of a klutz?"

" Think?" Kyoya breathed a laugh. "I know you're a klutz."

Tamaki reddened significantly, "I'm not going to step on your toes."

"Fine, then let's dance, Daddy."

Tamaki wasn't a poor dancer, far from it. The only problem was that Tamaki often got distracted and would begin to make mistakes. Other than that Kyoya really had nothing to worry about except for himself. He briefly recalled his dance lessons he took almost eight years ago, when he was taught more casual styles, and began to dance.

Kyoya secretly hoped no one was paying attention to them. He could play host and dance with the girls to his heart's content, it was easy to play the role. However, when it was just him open for others to see, it was uncomfortable. He was used to scrutiny, criticism, and the like when it came from his father. Even then, what Kyoya showed was a role, a mask of the perfect son that was being judged. Now, as Tamaki took his hand to spin him around again, he was much more vulnerable than he wanted or realized. He scowled at the thought. He didn't mind letting his friends see him so carefree, they probably would encourage it. However, he was an introvert by nature only forced to socialize because of his status in the Ootori family as well as the series of events that led him to taking part in the host club.

When he faced Tamaki once more, their hands leaving each other, Tamaki must have seen the annoyed expression on his face. It was a troubling mystery for Tamaki and even still he didn't let it stop him. Instead, he doubled his efforts to get Kyoya to stop clamming up. Something already noticeable by Kyoya's stiff movements.

Tamaki was too damn perceptive, Kyoya thought. In order to counteract Tamaki, Kyoya grabbed Tamaki's hand and spun the blond around four times as fast as Tamaki's feet could allow him. Of course, when Tamaki came back to position, he wobbled with dizziness and obvious queasiness. Kyoya laughed at him.

Fortunately for Kyoya, the song ended not long after. He was a little winded by Tamaki's fast and unrelenting pace and wanted to sit back down to drink more of the overly sugary soda. He was in the process of turning away when Tamaki clamped down on Kyoya's wrist with an iron grip. With the biggest puppy-dog eyes he could muster, Tamaki begged for more dances with Kyoya. Kyoya couldn't refuse.

Tamaki wrung a few more dances out of him before Kyoya had to take a drink. Once he was alone, a certain redhead finally made his way over. Kaoru had a knowing smirk that made Kyoya feel all the more exposed.

"So," Kaoru drawled, "you're a dancer."

Kyoya didn't want to face Kaoru directly. He glared at him out of the corner of his eye.

Kaoru was quite dashing in his party outfit. When the party started, it was a peach colored button up and gray vest combo with black slacks, an outfit that matched Hikaru's except for the color as Hikaru wore light blue. His hair was pushed back carelessly into a quiff, extra clips were put in to keep the longer strands of hair from falling into his eyes. But as the night went on, Kaoru forgoed the vest and unbuttoned the top of the shirt. It left a sizable amount of skin on display, one the Kyoya had to tear his eyes from. His hair had been danced out of the hold of the gel, falling back into a more familiar style.

"Only when I have to be," Kyoya finally responded.

Kaoru laughed, "I believe you. You looked more uptight dancing than you did greeting your father's business partners."

Kyoya scowled. He wanted to dance with Kaoru more than anything and he had a feeling he wouldn't be as uptight with the younger twin. However, it would also be quite suspect because Kyoya didn't think either of them would be able to control themselves. Not when his mind ran off with the daydreams of encircling Kaoru's waist with his hands. Dipping lower to his hips, gliding over the material of his pants, wishing he could feel what was beneath it. And God, those pants he had on were sinful in their own right. The twins never wore anything ill fitting, not on Yuzuha-san's watch, unless intentional. The twins' looks were more traditional so there was barely any slack in the fabric.

Though, Kyoya couldn't help but notice the alterations allowing tighter fits around certain areas, specifically around Kaoru's backside. Truly, it was hell for him not to point it out.

"I don't care for Tamaki's dancing."

"Yeah, I wonder what was put into his drink. I've never seen him this excited."

Kyoya shook his head and crossed his arms, "This is his normal level of excitement for an event like this. He was like this when he first came to Japan."

Kaoru cringed at the thought and Kyoya was amused by it.

The sudden movement in front of Kyoya and Kaoru caught their attention. It turned out to be Hani-senpai and Reiko-san spinning uncontrollably and laughing all the while.

"I heard you and your family were going to the Okinawa beach house for a week," Kaoru mentioned, "You know, during summer break?"

"Yeah, it's going to be Father, Mother, Akito and me. I'm not looking forward to it."

"What if I said the Hitachiins were also going to be on vacation the very same week at their summer home in Okinawa?"

Kyoya turned very slowly to Kaoru. The twin looked absolutely wicked, the all too familiar upturned lips in place. Kyoya wasn't upset, far from it. He was excited, even proud by Kaoru's quick work and silver tongue he most definitely used to persuade his family to go.

"I would ask how one worked so quickly to bring about such a change," Kyoya inquired.

"I didn't have to do much." Kaoru looked to his brother who was helping Renge with setting up the Karaoke. "Hikaru backed me up on it and once your name was said, my mom was instantly on board."

Kyoya closed his eyes and smiled sweetly. Yuzuha-san was more than a great woman, he decided.

"There isn't something that I should know about, is there?" Kaoru inspected Kyoya's face looking for the crack in his features, one that Kaoru wouldn't find.

"No, nothing to be concerned about. After all, your mother is a force of her own that I couldn't possibly contend with. I also wouldn't bother her as fashion design isn't where the Ootoris' priority lies."

Kaoru rolled his eyes, "Of course, you're trying to redirect me. Could it be that you aren't trying to cause conflict with her, rather join forces with her? I wouldn't be surprised if you two have teamed up."

Kyoya raised his eyebrows. It seemed he had a bad habit of underestimating the younger twin at times like this. Together, he and Hikaru made excellent observations, always on the lookout for an interesting tidbit of gossip or rumors they could play off of. It was only natural for Kaoru to connect the two.

"You did not!" Kaoru's voice was wavering, bordering mocking and upset while his face betrayed his curiosity.

"I didn't say anything."

"That's what you do when you don't want to lie, but you don't want to tell the truth either. Spill!"

Kyoya sighed. He thought back to the twins' sixteenth birthday party he had attended. It was back when his feelings for Kaoru were relatively new and recently realized. He was sitting alone in the den thinking about it when Yuzuha came to him with drinks in hand.

"Young Ootori," She had said jokingly, "What troubles you?"

Of course, Kyoya was polite. "Nothing is wrong, Hitachiin-san. I was only thinking about the host club."

She hummed thoughtfully. She sat one of the glasses down in front of Kyoya keeping the other for herself. Kyoya observed her carefully as he sipped the punch. Her eyes were roaming over the many pictures on the TV stand. Most of them were of the twins, a few were pictures of their grandparents and other relatives.

"How is the host club doing? Hikaru and Kaoru don't tell me enough." She asked Kyoya.

"It's going well. We have been highly successful in attendance as well as satisfaction."

"Everything is well with the hosts themselves?"

Kyoya kept himself from raising an eyebrow. His mind whirled trying to understand why she asked. "Of course. There's no animosity among us."

She waved a hand and laughed, "Oh, no. Nothing like that. I mean, how are the hosts doing? I hear about all of you through your parents, but I assume you could tell me a little bit more."

Kyoya nodded, "Yes, everyone is doing well."

"And you? Are you doing well?"

"Yes."

Yuzuha smiled and took another sip, "I wanted to speak with you while you were here, away from the others."

A tendril of anxiety curled around his gut. He pushed it away. She wasn't necessarily going to tell him something bad or worrisome.

She continued, "I know you and Kaoru have been working very closely this past school year, more so than usual."

This was bad.

"I have noticed Kaoru has changed quite a bit, and by extension Hikaru as well. I know you're not the specific reason why they have been spending more time apart. However, I'm surprised by how well you two work together."

"Kaoru is a hard worker and very reliable." Kyoya supplied flatly. He had to play this interaction safe. He had no idea what Yuzuha-san's intentions were and he didn't want to reveal too much to her. He was sure she wasn't malevolent, but if his father knew . . .

"Of course, he's more focused than Hikaru and a lot of people in this world." She tilted her head and gazed intently at the youngest Ootori. "But, Kaoru's abilities are not what I wanted to talk about with you."

Kyoya's hands were resting on his knees and he subconsciously gripped them tighter, "What would you like to talk about, Hitachiin-san?"

"I wanted to talk to you about Kaoru. Before I start, I want to make a few things clear: firstly, anything you say will not be spoken about with anyone else. I promise that I won't tell anyone anything. Secondly, I choose to speak with you personally since I know you are mature enough to hear what I'm about to say. Kaoru isn't ready for this conversation and I'd rather he come to me, rather than me to him. Thirdly, you don't have to agree, confirm, or deny anything I say. Afterall, I'm only going to tell you my suspicions which may or may not be true. If you are uncomfortable with correcting me, I won't force you to do so.

"Do you understand?" She searched Kyoya's face.

He nodded, but kept his breath held until she started.

"I believe there may be something between you and Kaoru." She put a hand to her chin as if she were thinking to herself. "I see the club photos online sometimes and you two are often together, enough to rival how often Kaoru and Hikaru are together. What really made me question Kaoru's thoughts and feelings was the way he looks at you."

Kyoya felt his cheeks flush. It was completely out of his control, but he wished he hadn't done that.

"And the way you return his look." She turned to face away from Kyoya again, a more troubled look passed across her face. "Of course, I may be completely off my mark here, but I know that you would be able to clear up anything if you were willing to speak about this. I know you were less likely to blow up on me and become defensive. It is what I fear Kaoru would do if I tried."

"I- . . ." Kyoya began, yet he couldn't get the words out. Even though she said she wouldn't tell anyone about what he was going to say, Kyoya was still apprehensive.

"Kyoya-kun, I have no judgement if what I'm insinuating is true. In fact, I would encourage it. I want what makes my children happy and if you and Kaoru are happy together, then I would want nothing less."

Kyoya was quiet when Yuzuha gave him time to speak. He used a few moments to collect his thoughts. He didn't see why he should stay and explain, but he also knew Yuzuha may be the only one who understood his situation. She was quite openly in support of gay relationships. Kyoya knew in his core that he needed an ally, Yuzuha may be the only one close enough.

"Are you giving me your blessing?" He half-joked.

She laughed loudly, "I think I am! Now that you say it, I will reiterate clearly, 'I give you my blessing to marry my son.'"

Kyoya looked away from her still aware of the rising color in his face, "I dislike speaking about such private things. Even so you are being sincere and caring enough to discuss this with me rather than my father, I greatly appreciate it."

"I should warn you," Her voice took on a somber tone, "I can't do much with respect to your father. I cannot lie to him nor would I do anything to disrespect him. He and I are friends as well as business partners. It would be quite a messy situation if I were to circumvent his authority over you as a parent."

"I understand."

"Good," She grinned, "and since you haven't told me one way or another about my insinuations , I don't have to lie to your father. Not that it matters because this conversation never happened."

Yuzuha-san gave a wink before walking back to where the rest of the guests were congregated. Kyoya didn't move from his spot on the sofa and was pleasantly surprised that no one else came to him after that.

"God," Kaoru said, bringing Kyoya back to the present moment, "we have never been able to keep her from knowing what we do or how we feel."

Kyoya chuckled, "That's all you focused on?"

"What? She knew I liked you before I did!" Kaoru shook his head and brought his fingers to his temples. "What the hell?"

"She knew before I did as well."

"Oh?"

"Well, I didn't know exactly how you felt, but I was very sure about how I felt."

Kaoru groaned, "I'm dumb."

"You were blinded by love," suggested Kyoya. He then paused realizing all too late what he had just said. "Sorry, I didn't mean to put words in your mouth."

He had screwed up. Certainly, Kaoru was going to feel conflicted and pressured to return the sentiment. Honestly he had never meant to push Kaoru like that since it was such an impactful statement. Kyoya couldn't stop the deflating feeling in his chest.

"Maybe you're right," Kaoru whispered. Kyoya could hear him, though, and it made his chest swell warmly.

That was until Renge stole the microphone to the Karaoke machine that Hikaru had gotten ready and began screeching. Kyoya lost all feeling within himself from the onslaught of torture in the form of singing.

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The waves lapped the shore lazily. It mirrored what Kaoru felt while laying on his beach towel, unmotivated. This was the third day of the Hitachiin family summer vacation in Okinawa and he had yet to see a glimpse of Kyoya. He was a little worried since he hadn't heard from the youngest Ootori since they departed about five days ago. That meant Kaoru only had two more days to spend with Kyoya before his family would return to Tokyo. Then after those two days, Kaoru would be stuck with his family for another nine to complete their two week vacation. Meaning, more time without seeing Kyoya.

Kaoru sighed and rolled onto his stomach. His chest was starting to get burnt and he really didn't feel like reapplying sunscreen. Distantly he heard the radio playing old hits from his parent's time as well as his father's typing on a keyboard. Just behind Kaoru, his parents were seated at a table with an umbrella. Hikaru sat with them sipping intermittently on a non-alcoholic pina colada.

There wasn't any talk. It was strange for the Hitachiins, at least it was strange for their mother to be so silent. When Kaoru looked up, he found his mother asleep in her chair, a hand resting on her eight-month pregnant belly. Her sunglasses were slightly skewed and her hair just as wild. Kaoru's father was never much of a talker, so he didn't say much unless he was being spoken to. Hikaru seemed just as unmotivated to do anything as Kaoru and didn't want to waste a breath on doing unnecessary talking.

So there Kaoru was stuck doing absolutely nothing, that is, until Kyoya calls and then Kaoru would probably shoot up like a rocket and fly out of there.

Why did Kyoya ignore him? Kaoru had been pondering this question since Kyoya had left Tokyo. Did Ootori-san take all of Kyoya's electronics away? He left a few messages a couple of days ago when they had first arrived, nothing out of the ordinary. However, Kyoya never did see them or respond to them. Now that Kaoru had more time than usual to worry about it, his thoughts almost entirely revolved around the question. Hikaru had suggested a little sleuthing around to see. They weren't far from Kyoya's family and could have easily walked. However, the threat of the private police force deterred any further action to snoop around the estate.

It left Kaoru irritable, Hikaru annoyed, and their parents completely oblivious and enjoying their time off from work. Kaoru knew he should relax a little before he had to go back to school, but Kyoya was always there at the forefront of his mind to remind Kaoru of his absence.

"Oh, dear." Kaoru heard his mother say along with a couple groans and sharp exhales. "I didn't mean to fall asleep out here. I'm so stiff now."

"Do you need some help?" Kaoru's father got up to lend a hand to Yuzuha.

She used her husband's strength as leverage to get up and walk back to the House. "I'm going in to lay down," She called, "Ageha is wearing me out."

The twins' father sighed, "She was so much more exhausted when she was pregnant with you two, you know?"

"I can only imagine," Hikaru said, though he didn't sound too sincere.

"We were sucking the life out of her probably," Kaoru commented.

"You haven't stopped," their father laughed at his joke before resuming his typing. "Where should we have dinner tonight or would you rather have something here?"

Kaoru buried his face into the sandy beach towel to avoid having to talk. Hikaru looked to the rolling ocean rather than his father.

"Oh, c'mon. We can go to your favorite ramen shop, no? We can get the Fire Breathing Dragon."

The twins' heads snapped to their father at the mention of their favorite dish. It was the spiciest ramen on the island prefecture, mixed with a Korean style sauce, topped with different types of chiles and thick slices of beef, all served in a massive bowl large enough for the entire family to share. Kaoru's mouth watered at the memory of it.

"Of course, your mother won't be eating it with us." The twins' father winked.

"Well, you never know. Ageha might like spicy foods." Hikaru shrugged and pushed the sunglasses he had perched on his nose onto his head.

"Your mother has severe acid reflux right now and I don't think she'll appreciate it." Their father closed his laptop and stood. "I'm heading in, too. Are you guys going to stay out here longer?"

"Yeah," the twins said in unison.

Their father nodded and trudged through the soft sand back to the Hitachiins' Okinawa home. Hikaru stood as well, taking his shirt and bracelets off and putting them on the table carefully. He then strode to Kaoru and crouched down.

"Would you like to go for a swim?"

They swam out about twenty meters from dry shore where the waves didn't roll into a barrel, crashing down on itself. All they had to do was keep bobbing in motion with the incoming waves to keep their heads out of the water. They were like that for a while. Kaoru watched the waves appear from the seemingly infinite horizon contemplating on Kyoya some more. Really, he should tire of it but his mind wouldn't let him stop. Hikaru tried to flip under the water with the waves, but only ended up cleaning out his sinuses in the more unpleasant way.

"What are we going to do tomorrow?" Hikaru asked after blowing the water out of his nose.

"I don't know." Kaoru paced out farther ducking under when another surge came through. He breached the surface shaking the droplets from his face. "I wanted to see Kyoya."

Hikaru was silent. The sounds of the ocean helped drown out the annoying and pestering thoughts that wanted to fill up the space.

"There isn't a lot here that we haven't done." Kaoru supplied.

"You're right. It's just that . . ." He wiped more water from his face. "What am I going to do? I don't want to hold you back because you have been with me this whole time. And-"

They both went under when another big surge came in.

Hikaru resurfaced and continued, "I don't want to be the third wheel."

"Right. I know hanging with mom and dad isn't exactly the most fun." Kaoru spat out the salt water that had accidentally gotten into his mouth. "I don't think being around Kyoya and me would be any fun either."

Hikaru chuckled but the sound was lost from the violently churning waves. Kaoru frowned as he had to go under again. The waves were a lot higher than they were just a few moments ago. The crests easily went a meter over their heads and plowed through aggressively to the shore.

"I think we should head back!" Kaoru yelled as he noticed Hikaru had strayed farther from him than he realized. "The waves are getting rough!"

"You think!" Was the only response he heard when a series of wall-like waves began to head towards them. There was no way they could out swim them and it would be hard to try and swim under them with how close together they were.

Kaoru racked his brain to remember what their father had said about the weather that morning. The only time when waves were like this was when there was a lot of wind on the ocean. However, when the Hitachiins were on the shore there was no wind to speak of, other than the slight breeze that you normally felt off the ocean. There was also the problem of tides. Kaoru didn't check that morning to see what the tide tables showed. It meant that the swim back to the beach may be much longer than what they swam to get out there. If so, the journey back could be dangerous as they would also have to fight the strong, breaking waves and the strong undertow carrying the water back out along the looked back to the beach and saw just how far out they were, or at least it appeared that they were far out.

The series of waves had started to descend on them within a second of Kaoru turning back around. Kaoru let the first wave roll over him while underwater. He dug his feet in the sand as best as he could at the bottom to prevent him moving too much and getting disoriented. When he hit a point where he could resurface to get more air but could go back underwater if need be, he went up to check for an opening to breathe. Thankfully, there was a lull which he took a huge gulp. For the next four or so waves he jumped as best as he could off the floor to ascend up with the wave before slipping back down into the trough. After those waves began breaking on the shore, he saw that was the end of that series of large waves. There was an opening where they could advance quickly towards the shore before getting battered with more waves.

"Hikaru!" Kaoru cried.

Hikaru, who was about seven meters away and straying further, began to panickedly make large strokes with his arms and kicked his legs as hard as he could. Kaoru followed suit.

Distantly he heard his name being called. At first, he thought it was Hikaru. He tried to look while swimming but it didn't work out too well. He almost somersaulted in the water when a pretty powerful wave came through. When he got back to swimming, he saw that there were four figures on the beach waving and shouting both Hikaru and Kaoru's names. He was about to call out when the next series of large waves began pounding through. Though, this time they were at the point of breaking and were raining down on top of both Hikaru and Kaoru. This was the part that would be the most dangerous and tricky. Kaoru knew they would have to probably wait it out otherwise the insanely tall drops of the rolling waves would crush them.

Hikaru and Kaoru both went under for the next series of waves as they began to break over their heads. The undertow felt strong and they tried their best to stay in the area. However, they both knew fighting it would only make it worse. Unfortunately for them, they had not realized they had been pushed up closer to the shore and not pushed away. When Kaoru resurfaced to get another breath of air, a wave broke over top of him and crashed down heavily onto his back. It had him flipping wildly in the water, hitting his head against the sand at the bottom as they were now in relatively shallow water. Unshockingly, the soft sand did not feel as soft when hitting his head against it as it did when strolling through it.

The pain that exploded through him was immense in his back at first but suddenly faded to an ache. It left only the ever mounting pressure in his head. Kaoru knew something was off but the dizziness of being spun around like he was in the rinse cycle of a washing machine had to be stopped before he could do anything more. Yet, the dizziness didn't stop and he was still under water. He panicked, his arms and legs thrashing. He eventually found purchase against the floor rushing up to the surface only to be met with another wave pushing him down. His lungs had reflexively inhaled and was only filled with heavy sea water.

He tried to come back up only to be smothered by more waves. It felt never ending, he would try to come back up only to have another wave push him harshly to the floor only for the current along the floor to drag him away from the shore. He contemplated giving up since it wasn't looking so good for him. That was until he felt a hand at his arm. It pulled him up to the surface and carried him along to the shore. The waves had calmed down significantly, not that Kaoru noticed at all. His lungs were still filled with water and his head was fuzzy and stuffed with cotton. Nothing was making a lot of sense at the moment.

A particularly strong hit to the gut had the water forcefully knocked out of his lungs. He coughed and gagged and possibly could have thrown up, who knows. He was rolled onto his back once the cough fit had subsided and a hand was placed on his shoulder shaking gently to rouse him. It was then that he realized his eyes were closed. When he opened them, the light was almost blinding and made his head pulse angrily with pain. He gritted through barely open eyes and found to his horror that there were people surrounding him, but he didn't recognize them. It was like there was an obscuring filter over their faces, yet he was seeing perfectly at the same time. One of the people in front of him, an older man, had said something to him but he legitimately had no idea how to respond. He felt frustration and confusion of not knowing.

"We need to take him to the hospital immediately. I'm certain he has a head injury." It was the older man again and this time Kaoru was able to piece the words together into something remotely comprehensible.

Kaoru looked closely at the man and realized he had been staring at Ootori-san this whole time. The shock had him reeling with even more fear and confusion. Why had he not recognized him? He looked around and saw his parents and Hikaru to one side and Kyoya on the other. All eyes were on him, serious and perhaps just as panicked as he felt.

He couldn't stop himself from saying, "What the fuck?"

"It's alright, Kaoru." His mother spoke gently, though the wavering in her voice let on to just how unnerved she was. "We're going to go inside and wait on the ambulance."

"I understand." He said slowly and carefully.

Trying to walk back to the house was hard because being upright only made his head hurt worse and the dizziness increased. A few times he stumbled when he got off balance, though Hikaru and Kyoya were there to keep him from falling. When they got back into the house, Kaoru was feeling more in the loop but still nothing felt right. Not to mention his headache was getting worse, the pressure grew and swelled so much that Kaoru thought his head might explode.

He was placed on the small sofa in the foyer. He took advantage of the entire thing to lay down and curl into the fetal position. The pain wouldn't go away even then. It was all he could think about as the pain took his focus and concentration away. It felt like eternity before the ambulance showed up. The summary of events was covered by Ootori-san who had given minimal details and basically sent Kaoru off quickly with the technicians. By the time Kaoru bothered to open his eyes again, he was in a hospital emergency room. No one was with him and the lights were dimmed. It was strangely quiet, but Kaoru didn't dwell on it. He had changed out of his swim trunks and put on the hospital clothes provided for him to wear.

The doctors and nurses came in waves checking on him, asking how he felt and to retell the events from his perspective and if he needed anything. He answered them as best he could then turned them away, allowing himself to drift to sleep. They eventually came in to get him for the scans. It was then Kaoru realized his headache had eased off, though it had more to do with the IV in his arm than him actually getting better. They took him to a few different rooms with large, white, impersonal machinery in them. After he was done, they placed him back in a wheelchair and took him to his room. He had actually dozed off while in the chair.

It was dark out when a nurse woke him up again. She was middle-aged and her hair was tied back in a bun.

"Hello, I'm Nurse Akagi and I'll be in here to check on you every hour. I'll have to wake you every time I come in. I know it can be bothersome, but we need to observe you in order to catch any worrisome signs or symptoms."

Kaoru nodded, "How long have I been asleep?"

"About an hour."

"What time is it?"

"A quarter until nine."

"Where's my brother?"

"He's in the waiting room with the rest of your family and friends. They have been told to keep out until you were awakened. Do you wish to see them?"

"Yeah." Kaoru nodded and asked, "How long have I been asleep?"

"About an hour," She smiled and walked off.

Kaoru wasn't able to catch her before she was too far away to ask more questions. Instead, he let himself sleep.