Disclaimer: Anything related to Ouran High School Host Club doesn't belong to us (unfortunately). It's just our plot / crazy ideas.

Chapter Two: Investigation

Knock knock knock.

"Go away!" came a voice from behind the locked door of dorm room 1-C.

"Come on, Hikaru, let us in!"

"Hika-chan! We want to help!"

"Yes."

"You're only prolonging your separation from Kaoru if you refuse to open the door," said Kyouya, who smirked when he was rewarded with the click of a lock.

The door opened and golden eyes peeked from behind it, examining the assembled group. There was no sign of a magnifying glass or trench coat in sight.

Hikaru sighed in relief as he opened the door more, allowing the other members of the Host Club entrance to the not-so-neat-and-tidy dorm. He had sincerely regretted blowing up at Tamaki, and unfortunately didn't have Kaoru to switch places with him to apologize for him. The look he gave Tamaki as he entered seemed to be enough, as nobody mentioned the incident. After all, their first priority was finding out where Kaoru was and getting him back home safely.

"Time to begin the search," Kyouya announced. In a few moments, the room was filled with bustling activity as its occupants commenced their search for any clues or hints that might lead to locating Kaoru.

Five minutes later, the room was completely different than it had been before they had entered. Still messy, but even more so now. Books pulled off shelves and thrown on the floor, the bed sheets practically torn off the bed, contents of various bags and boxes thrown every which way… It was untidiness to the extreme.

"Well, that plan didn't work out as expected," Kyouya said, adjusting his glasses.

"Well, we're probably more likely to find something if the room's clear, so that the possibly evidence isn't covered by all this junk. We didn't learn anything from this other than that Kaoru has a lot of homework not done," Haruhi reasoned, glancing over at Kaoru's school bag which had been emptied in a large pile.

Hikaru sent a light glare in her direction. "And the reason why you suggested that after we tore the room apart would be…?"

"I did. It's not my fault you were too busy destroying any clues we might have had to listen to any reason."

So, with a bit of half-hearted grumbling, they began returning things to their proper places, being careful to examine everything as they cleaned up. But it wasn't until a slip of paper which had been lodged between two books Tamaki was placing on a shelf fell to the floor that they found anything out-of-place.

Hikaru practically pounced on the small scrap and he held it up to read with trembling fingers. His eyes quickly scanned the paper, his expression changing from excitement to confusion to disappointment in a matter of seconds.

"What is it? What is it?" Hunny inquired, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Hikaru sighed, passing the slip to Hunny. "Just a receipt for some restaurant."

"What restaurant?" Tamaki asked, snatching the receipt away from Hunny, examining it carefully.

Kyouya looked over Tamaki's shoulder and read the name of the restaurant. He recognized it as a restaurant they had passed on their way to Haruhi's apartment. "That's a commoner restaurant," he observed. "Not a place that Kaoru would go. Unless accompanied by Haruhi, that is."

Upon that comment, everybody's eyes turned to Haruhi, who then took the receipt from Tamaki. After a brief glance, she frowned. "If he went there, it wasn't with me. I hate that place." She handed it back to Tamaki. "Besides, where'd I get enough yen to get Ootoro at Tsukatani's Sushi House?" She muttered the last sentence under her breath. Even though the restaurant was a commoner one, it still was fairly expensive.

"If Kao-chan didn't go there, and Haru-chan didn't go there, then somebody else who went there must have dropped it here. And that somebody else is probably the one we need to find. Right, Takashi?"

"Yes, Mitsukuni," Mori responded.

The realization that the person who had taken Kaoru was most likely the one who had dined at the sushi restaurant washed over them.

"Well, why are we sitting around here?" Hikaru practically shouted as he stood up. "Let's go!" He looked about ready to run all the way to the restaurant himself when Haruhi piped up.

"Wait! Do you even know where you're going?"

Hikaru turned around slowly. "Well, uhhh. There was an address on the receipt," he pointed out as he realized he actually had no idea where the restaurant was as he hadn't had much time to look at the slip of paper and memorize what had been written on it.

Hikaru snatched the receipt from Tamaki so that he could read the address printed on the top of the paper. Haruhi sighed. They were acting like little kids playing Pass-The-Parcel at a party. Only it was a slip of paper and not a colorfully wrapped gift.

"Come on, Haru-chan! Let's go!" Hunny brightened up at the prospect of finding out who had taken Kaoru. Grabbing Haruhi's hand, he started pulling her outside towards the car. Everyone else followed them at a quick pace, with Hikaru quickly taking the lead.

In the car, heading towards their destination, the group of six was silent. Except for Tamaki, who was trying to strike up a conversation with one of the others, but failing miserably as they had much more important things on their minds than reminiscing thoughts about their days at Ouran Academy.

"Kyouya, remember the time when…? Hunny, do you remember when you…? Hikaru, remember when you and… er… Haruhi! Do you remember when…?"

However, none of them felt much like talking about the 'old days.' Kyouya was busy writing in his folder, which he had taken with him. Mori was sitting silently – not like that was much of a surprise – staring out the window while Hunny sat next to him, hugging his precious bunny to his chest. Hikaru was twiddling his thumbs, looking out the opposite window, his eyes scanning the signs above the buildings outside, hoping to be the first to spot the sushi house. Haruhi was looking down at the floor, not really doing anything at all besides thinking.

They didn't bother even reacting to the stories that Tamaki was telling until he mentioned the time when the twins had staged a fight. That event was not something that Hikaru wanted to hear about, even if Tamaki was telling it in good humor. Turning his eyes from the window for the first time since they had entered the vehicle, Hikaru shot Tamaki a warning glare that said 'if you don't give it up now, I'm going to come over there and punch you'.

Thankfully, Tamaki stopped talking and actually looked a bit ashamed to have mentioned it. Especially in such a situation. But Tamaki had never been known for his intelligence. For the rest of the journey, he remained silent, looking down at the ground. Every so often, he would look up at the other members, but didn't make any comment.

Though the drive had only taken around ten minutes, it had seemed like hours to the six, who were waiting anxiously for the chance to figure out more about the 'evil plot to kidnap Kaoru'. They all desperately wanted to find their missing friend.

The car suddenly stopped, startling everyone. The silence was broken by Hikaru's voice.

"We're here!"

The door opened, and the Host Club flooded out of the limo. Sure enough, there was a sign above the door: "Tsukatani's Sushi House."

I do hope this doesn't take too long, Kyouya thought as he followed the group into the restaurant, scanning the crowded room quickly for anything out-of-place.

However, Kyouya's keen eyes had failed to notice the white car which had been following them ever since they had left the dorm.

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