Chapter nine:

Kaoru blinks his eyes open only to find himself not in that room that he had fallen asleep in. He is now standing out in a commoners market place with his friends and brother just ahead of him. He glances around having a feeling that something isn't right. His eyes come to land upon a hooded man who peeks over a book at him. He swears that the man is familiar to which he remembers seeing him earlier.

The man had been walking past when he paused looking in his direction before heading to a stand.

Kaoru had brushed it off thinking that his mind was playing tricks on him. He turns away and goes to catch up with his friends. He stays close to them hoping that being a part of a big group will make the man not appear again. He doesn't want to worry his friends just yet. He gets distracted with the conversation that they are having and his mind drifts away from the man.

"Hey! Guys! Look at that!" Tamaki hurries forward towards a store that is up ahead leaving the others to have to run to catch up with him.

Kaoru runs to try to catch up with his friends who seem to get some how further and further ahead of himself. He is running forward however he finds that it seems like he's going backwards as the way ahead stretches out further from his reach. He opens his mouth to call out only to feel a cloth be pressed against it. His vision grows dark and his body falls limp. He falls backwards as the feeling of the cloth disappears and he finds himself falling into a space of darkness. He can't move as he just falls despite there being only darkness all around him. He splashes into dark water though it almost seems very dimly lit so he can only see about as far as he can reach. He finds that he can breathe despite that this is water. He is just slowly sinking and can't even tell if he is even looking at the way out. He hears something swimming around him to which he looks around finally able to move his head. He can't see anything in the darkness then something is heading his way.

A large great white shark with a brown coloration that looks like the man's hair comes for him. It looks angry and it opens it's mouth wide as it draws closer showing off it's many rows of sharp teeth. It swallows Kaoru whole as everything goes black.

Kaoru opens his eyes with a gasp only to find himself in that room. He can see Akio and Mai walking around probably so they're not sitting or laying down all the time.

Plus to probably help waste some time down here.

The two turn as they take notice that Kaoru is awake. They head over to him while Kaoru sits up thinking about the dream that he had just had.

"You're awake." Mai greets with her arms crossed loosely over her chest as if she is just chilling and not actually upset.

"You okay?" Akio questions looking a little worried as he crouches then reaches a little towards Kaoru. "Did you have a bad dream?"

Kaoru blinks as he remembers something he had almost forgotten about. He places the two men in his mind side by side and he swears that they look similar. "How could I have forgotten about that moment?" He runs a hand through his hair before letting out a breath. "I guess it was awhile before I was even taken so I didn't give it much thought."

"What are you talking about?" Mai questions raising an eyebrow at him while Akio places a hand on Kaoru's shoulder.

"I saw the man, or who I think might be him I could be wrong, following me a good while before I ever came here." Kaoru tells them. "I was out with friends. I only saw him twice and didn't give it any thought. I didn't even link the two of them together though now thinking about it… I think they were the same person."

"Sometimes we have moments that we push away because we think they're not important. You didn't even think twice about it. So you pushed it away and there was probably a lot of shock finding yourself here. We would know." Mai tells Kaoru who looks to her letting their eyes meet. "Maybe you'll even remember more moments of seeing him. You never know."

Kaoru relaxes a little and nods his head softly supposing that they do have a point.

Elsewhere…

Hikaru is going for a walk with his friends this morning as they are going to look around for anyone or anything that might catch their interest. He glances away from his friends who are slightly quietly discussing ideas over the case. He blinks as he notices a man walking with a hood up. He stops walking to stare at the man trying to remember where he had seen him before.

The man stops by a car and glances to Hikaru. He doesn't look pleased that the other is staring at him. He turns away and gets into the car before driving off.

Hikaru is so deep in thought that he hasn't even noticed that his friends have stopped walking only to look to him. He blinks in realization as he is finally able to place where he had seen that man before.

They had been walking when that man had turned to eye at Kaoru before disappearing into the crowd.

Hikaru turns as a hand comes to rest on his shoulder. He sees Haruhi looking at him. He can tell that she is silently asking him what is going on in his head. "I saw a man." He tells them, knowing that all of their friends are listening. "I swear he was the same man that one time looked at Kaoru some time ago before disappearing into a crowd." He thinks it over a little more and closes his eyes as he shakes his head. His hand, on the opposite side that Haurhi is on, comes up to rest on his head by the side of his forehead. "You know what. It probably doesn't mean anything. I hadn't seen that man after that one moment. So he might not have anything to do with it."

"Don't throw it out the window just yet." Kyouya speaks to which the group turn to him as Hikaru even lowers his hand. "If he had singled Kaoru out in that moment then it is worth at least a glance into." He looks in the direction that Hikaru had been looking in. "Where did he go?"

Hikaru turns to where he had last seen the man. "He got into a car and drove off."

"What do you remember about the car and the man?" Kyouya presses turning his attention back to the remaining twin.

Hikaru does his best to describe the man from what he could see. "And he got into a grey car. I think it was maybe a Toyota yaris. I wasn't in the right spot to be able to catch the plate number." He turns to look back to Kyouya after explaining.

"That is okay. We'll start with the information that you provided." Kyouya assures him pulling out his cell. "I have a call to make." He turns away while Hikaru looks back to where he had seen the man enter the car.

Hikaru can still feel Haruhi's hand on his shoulder.