Ouran Fanfiction
Haunted
Chapter 2
Author's notes:
Okay, chapter two of this completely random and nonsensical rubbish. 8D I'm really sorry if some of this comes out sounding too much like Wuthering Heights. I intended that slightly, but perhaps not to the degree that it does. Some of the wording just sounds so odd... I'm sorry if it makes it hard to read. There's only so many ways of describing certain things. n.n;
Anyway, leave reviews if you like. I'm not entirely sure what will happen in later chapters, but I have a vague idea... Suggestions will all be read and considered!
WARNING: Character death, strange goings-on in later chapters, and probably highly non-canon.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ouran, much to my chagrin.
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Seven weeks later, Hikaru sat at his computer and stared at a blank word document on-screen. His eyes were red and puffy; daily crying and nightly insomnia had made them this way. The stinging in them had become a fixture of such permanence that he was used to it and no longer bothered with the eye drops he had used for a while, taking the pain as some kind of small, inadequate punishment for letting Kaoru die. He blamed himself entirely for it and it seemed to others that he never thought of much else.
In school these days, he sat silently in lessons, no longer 'Hikaru Hitachiin: one half of the famous Hitachiin twins, loved by the majority of the girls in the school for their forbidden brotherly love act'. Now he was merely 'Hikaru Hitachiin: single, lonely, broken person, still beating himself up over the death of his brother'. People tended to avoid him these days; his rather violent outburst at the first girl who had attempted to 'cheer him up' after his return to school had cemented his reputation as unapproachable and mercurial.
He no longer had any designators in the host club, for most of the girls were fickle and others easily led, and one half of something is never as good as a whole thing. During host club time, he sat in the corner, normally staring at a single spot on the floor and not blinking for up to a minute at a time. The sounds of the host club, at first quiet after his return to school but gradually returning to normal as time went by, did not permeate his state of strange consciousness. He was left to wallow in his little, isolated world, where he thought of little else but that fact that it was his fault that Kaoru had died.
He spoke rarely, only saying what was necessary and never initiating conversation with anyone, at school or at home. His schoolwork had suffered horrifically: his grades, which had always remained carefully high, were now all failing, even in subject he'd enjoyed. It was fortunate that he was heir to a business already- the way he was going, he'd have had to work two or three jobs just to live in the future if he hadn't been so privileged.
His life at home had also taken a bad turn. After the funeral- a quiet affair where only family were in attendance- and the memorial service- more garish, and with more people, including the other hosts and various other students from important or useful backgrounds- Hikaru had stayed home from school for three weeks, drifting miserably through the rooms of the mansion like some grim spectre. The maids did not know what to make of it; young master Hikaru had never in his life been so silent. The mischievous spark that had been ever-present in his golden eyes was now gone, leaving dead-looking, hazel-coloured orbs and a pale, drawn-looking face that nobody recognised. His parents were at a loss as to what to do with him. They had offered to buy him things but he had made no reply. They had suggested a trip, some time away, and he had stayed unspeaking. They had asked him what would help and he had simply stared at them out of tormented eyes, prompting mirrored silence from them. It was like looking at a half-person and it frightened them so much that they shrank away and left him, mourning both of their sons.
Presently, Hikaru rubbed his poor, sore eyes and stared for a while longer at the computer screen, thinking. He did not like to think much these days, preferring to mope, but now he was confused. He was not sure why he had gone to his computer and opened a word document, but thought that it was probably homework of some kind or another.
Having neglected that kind of thing recently, he was not certain of which homework he was meant to be doing. His watch beeped to announce that it was two in the morning and he ducked down under the desk to rummage through his schoolbag, trying to find the notebook he kept homework notes in. As he was searching, he heard a click above him, as though from the computer's mouse, and then taps, more taps.
Alarmed, he sat up suddenly to look at the computer screen, head colliding with the underside of the desk as he went. Rubbing the surprisingly sore patch- he'd forgotten what physical pain was- he stared at the single word on the screen.
Hikaru, it said. Nothing else, just his name.
He blinked several times, knowing that no one else was in the room. After a moment, he shrugged. He must have typed his name on the document before going through his bag, he reasoned. Ducking down again, he searched some more through his bag, trying to ignore the cold in the room.
But he heard it again. More clicks, more typing, spaces, a whole sentence.
Feeling highly uneasy at this point, he sat up again, slowly this time, fixing his eyes on the screen.
Hikaru, it now said, I've come back Hikaru.
Hikaru's eyes grew wider than ever before. This was truly strange. Those words had definitely not been written by him. Unless he was possessed or something, which he would not discount right now.
His heart was in his mouth as his jaw opened slightly and he breathed softly. "What?"
More clicks; his eyes jumped to the keyboard, where the keys were tapping up and down, apparently of their own volition, making more words appear on-screen. Don't be scared.
Perhaps it was the fact that he had not been really living for the past age, but he was not afraid. He felt a kind of dim confusion, like when he woke up in the night and was still half-dreaming.
The screen now added, It's me. I've come back.
Hikaru blinked some more and wrapped his arms around himself, shivering with the cold.
"Who?" he asked quietly, not daring to allow the surge of hope in his heart overwhelm him.
There was more typing, a single word this time:
Kaoru.
Hikaru's eyes grew wider, the cold escalated and his heart picked up speed. "Kaoru?" Tears sprang to the only Hitachiin son's eyes and his mouth opened in hopeful agony. "Where? Where are-"
He was cut off by more typing and saw more words appear on the screen:
Look behind you.
Instantly, he span the computer chair around, eyes darting to the end of the bed and alighting on Kaoru.
Kaoru...
He... he was here... He was really, really here! The hopeful tears in Hikaru's cried-out eyes spilled and turned joyful, disbelieving, astounded. His now-slight frame lifted from the chair, even before he'd had any thought about moving, and slowly he approached the figure perched casually on the en of his- no... their- bed.
If this is a dream... Let me sleep forever.
He was in front of Kaoru, teary eyes wide as he took in the completely familiar and unchanged appearance of Kaoru. His Kaoru. His beloved brother, his amazing twin, his gorgeous...
"Kaoru..." he whispered, not wanting to ruin this moment ever because this was a miracle; it should not be ruined by him any more than that one car on that one day ruined his life forever... until now. "Is it... really you?"
And then Kaoru smiled that beautiful, beautiful smile and Hikaru knew his answer before it was even nodded.
"It's me... Really, Hikaru."
"Kaoru!"
The following few minutes were a confused mixture of hugs and tears and kisses. Hikaru had no idea what was going on; Kaoru was- much as he hated to admit it- dead and every single sensible cell in his body told him that this should not be. He'd seen them bury Kaoru himself, he'd been to the funeral, he'd seen him die. This did not logically follow.
"H... how?" Hikaru eventually breathed, his arms still around his freezing cold twin. "I don't... I don't understand."
They came apart slowly, unfolding themselves like a flower opening to light but still holding hands like they had for sixteen years, and Kaoru smiled a small, slightly sad, smile.
"I'm here... But I'm not here. If that makes sense..."
It made no sense; Hikaru exchanged Kaoru's sheepish look with one of confusion and watched his brother sigh.
"I guess the best way to put it is that I'm a ghost, but not a stereotypical one," Kaoru explained.
Hikaru blinked several times, still only half-believing that Kaoru was back. "But... I can feel you..."
And he could. Their hands were still intertwined and he knew that he had not imagined their earlier embrace (if he took all that had happened so far to be real in the first place). No... Kaoru was not a ghost. Not properly.
"I can feel you and you can feel me because I want it this way," put in Kaoru. "I can also move things without touching them and hear some people's thoughts."
Hikaru paused. "Can you hear my thoughts?" he asked cautiously. He was not sure if he liked that idea, despite everything.
Kaoru grinned. "You're my twin; I don't need to be able to hear your thoughts."
Hikaru frowned. "You're avoiding the question."
Kaoru looked at him sadly, raising one hand to Hikaru's face to trail an icy finger down his cheek and along his jaw. "I missed you," he said softly.
Hikaru forgot all else but that hand, raising his own free hand to hold Kaoru's to his face as they sat down on the bed. "I missed you too... So much..." he murmured quietly, not wanting to remember those dark days now that his light had returned.
"I know," replied Kaoru, taking his hand down with Hikaru's. "I've been here for a while..."
Hikaru was startled. "Why didn't you come back for me earlier?" he asked, unable to help the accusatory note that slipped into his voice. "Couldn't you see how much I needed you?"
Kaoru nodded, touching his brother's face again, as if to soothe. Hikaru's sudden worry and surprise ebbed away somewhat with the cold touch and he focused on his brother's face.
"I wanted to, but I couldn't work out how," replied the spirit. "I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong. And then I didn't know how to reveal myself."
"Can anyone else see you?"
"I don't think so... But everyone shivers whenever I go by so I think they can sense me on some level."
Hikaru nodded. "It's been kind of cold recently. I thought it was just me."
Kaoru half-smiled. "So then I thought: if I could break the news to you in some other way than just appearing, I'd manage it. And it worked."
Hikaru stared at Kaoru again, drinking in his brother now lest this turn out to only be a dream later on.
"It's okay," soothed Kaoru. "I'm not going anywhere..."
"So you can hear my thoughts?!" Hikaru was surprised.
"Hikaru, I don't need to hear them to know what you're thinking," Kaoru repeated. "I know you, and your expression tells me everything."
"Oh..."
"I also know that you're tired. Come on, you need some sleep."
Hikaru was reluctant, but changed and climbed into bed. "What if you disappear? What will I do?"
Kaoru put a hand to Hikaru's cheek again reassuringly. "I won't. I promise."
Uneasily, Hikaru lay down, not wanting or intending to fall asleep. However, the feel of Kaoru beside him, cold as he was, was comforting and he fell quickly into a deep sleep.
"Don't worry Hikaru," Kaoru whispered. "We'll be together forever."
He pressed his cold lips to Hikaru's.
"You'll see."