In Soviet Russia Ouran owns you!

"I don't know what he's talking about! I've already checked everywhere we both know that involves horses. I can't find anything, and I can't go ask Kyouya-sempai after what happened."

I pace the small commoners home Haruhi lives in, my eyes fixed to the floor. They floor boards blurred together in a brown blob as my thoughts deepened.

This searching was beginning to create a painful pang of hopelessness in my chest. Perhaps Hikaru had overestimated my skills. He always was the one who thought that I could see through almost anything. The reality was that we were a team. I would never have been able to figure out people or puzzles if it had not been for him pointing out the obvious aspects I easily overlook.

Haruhi appeared from her tiny kitchen, balancing a tray of tea and a bland set of cups. She eyed the paper in my hand with interest, before setting the tray down and moving to sit, motioning me to do the same.

"Can I see?" She held her hand out, and I happily oblige, glad to get the damned paper away from me. "In the horses mouth?"

"You're not looking at it…" I start slowly, sliding closer to the girl. Her eyes hadn't even scanned the paper for two-seconds before she blurt out the clue. "How did you know what it said?"

"I am looking at it."

"You glanced at it, but that wasn't enough time to actually read it. You already knew what it said."

"Kaoru…"

How would she already know…?

"He told you," I gasp. Suddenly the past events began to click. "I thought it was strange that Hani-sempai knew about the clues too. It was only Kyouya-sempai that should have known. He was the one that was given a clue."

I stand, once more pacing the floor. "That means…Haruhi you know where this clue is. You can help me more than I thought you could."

"I'm not going to tell you where it is," she deadpanned.

Well, that wasn't very nice.

"Why?" I ask, staring at her.

She fidget uncomfortably on the floor, before standing herself, and taking the chilling tea back to the kitchen.

"Haruhi?" I ask.

"We're just insurance," she says, rubbing her arm gingerly as she reemerges. She looked almost guilty saying that, with her head turned away from me. "He told us only so that we could give you clues, not to give you the answer," Haruhi trailed off. "But everyone seems to be forgetting what he made us agree to."

I remembered Hani-sempai then, and how he had pulled strings just to give me the clue Kyouya had refused to give up. I take Haruhi's hand, and gently squeeze it.

"I won't make you tell me where it is," I said softly. It was noble how determined she was to play by the rules my brother had set, but I could understand the other club member's reasoning as well. I probably looked pathetic right now.

"How did you figure out the last clue, Kaoru?"

I turn to Haruhi, and then close my eyes to think.

How?

All of the clues before this one involved times when Hikaru and I were younger. Did that have anything to do with solving them?

I began to slowly recall the last clues. "It was a memory. I remembered about a time it was snowing when we were younger. Then, it was just the matter of getting to the area the memory took place."

"Yes," she pushed, "a specific time, and a place. Each clue is set up like that. In fact, this clue may be one of the easier ones. You just have to think."

"Time and place. Can you tell me anything else?"

"That's my limit for the rest of the game. You would have to ask someone else."

"Who?"

"Anyone but me. You just used your hint."

"I only get one question per host member? I'm surprised Hikaru had enough patience to really think this whole thing through."

Haruhi smiled fondly. Her eyes seemed to brighten as she took in my words. "He never was one to think before acting was he?"

"No, Never." We sat in a comfortable silence before I let out a long sigh and turned for the door, but not before thanking her. "Thanks for the hint. I'm sorry I bothered you so suddenly, I know you have to prepare for the dance tomorrow."

She waved her hand. "No, it's fine. I hope you figure everything out."

With a nod I put my shoes on and move to step outside only to be stopped abruptly in my tracks. "Kaoru!" I spin to look at Haruhi. What else could she possibly want from me? She already gave me my one hint from her, so why was she stopping me? It was then I noticed the slight tremble of her hands, and how she could barely look me in the eye. She had her face turned downward, only glancing up at me occasionally.

"Haruhi?" I prompt. "What's wrong?"

Haruhi took a deep breath before standing tall. Her eyes finally found mine. Apparently she'd overcome whatever inner struggles she was dealing with.

"I really hate cheating, Kaoru," she told me sternly. I stared at her, tilting my head to the side as I tried to understand. Yes, she'd already made that quite clear just a minute ago. "I hate cheating, but I do want to help." Her fists clenched tightly at her sides. "I won't give any hints, but I'm also your friend and I do have opinions. I'm always here to help whether or not I'm involved in...Hikaru's...Hikaru's little game or not. Do you understand?"

I nod and took a few steps closer to her. "Haruhi, I need your advice for something."

She nodded, her face set with a fiery determination. "About what?"

"Hikaru's playing a trick on me right now and I need your help to figure out what he wants. He won't give me any hints and he's being a cheater. It's actually getting really annoying and he's starting to piss me off." Haruhi's determination breaks momentarily, flicking to confusion and then wide-eyed realization before setting her face into an annoyed frown. I take a shuddering breath and wait.

"I don't have time to play games with you two today. Go bother someone else," she huffed. Her voice wavered slightly, but I'm not going to call her out on something that I'm also guilty of.

"Haruhi," I sang. "You're our toy. You have to play with us. Maybe you don't want to play with me because you'd rather hang out with Hikaru instead. I'd get him for you but he's not home right now."

"Don't bother. I'd rather both of you leave me alone. You're both equally annoying," she dead-panned, but then her voice grew soft and she forced my eyes to lock with hers. "But you can stay for a while if he's not home because I know how hard it is for you two when you're by yourselves."

My breath hitches. Haruhi, there's a reason we both fell in love with you.

"So I can stay? Hikaru will be jealous that I got to play with you longer than him," I say slyly. Crossing my arms, I circle her just like Hikaru and I used to and with a smile I poke her cheek only to get swatted away."Aww, that's not nice, Haruhi."

I kind of missed this normality. Now I realize how much I've been pushing everyone away. I'd reverted and nearly gone back into our world, but it was going to be a world alone rather than with Hikaru. So, I need to hold on to them. I don't want to be alone without my twin and without people like Haruhi and Hani-sempai who know how to push the right buttons to get me moving towards my true self again.

"I am not a toy for you to play with! You can stay but go sit somewhere! I have homework and I'm sure you do too." She stormed away, moving to sit at her small commoners coffee table. I watch her pull out a textbook and flip to a chapter that I know we haven't reached yet in class. Her acting is terrible as always, but it still makes my chest bubble with a strange warmth. It's not uncomfortable, but it does make my voice all the more unstable.

"But I don't want him to win," I whine. I flop down next to her to cross my legs and sit in an angry pout. "You're so boring..."

"Studying isn't supposed to be fun and I'm not here to entertain you," she answered back, now pretending to take notes. I lean closer until the side of my body is pressed against hers. Haruhi only looks up at me briefly before going back to work. My hand twitches beside me, and in a swift motion I've yanked her pen from her hand to dangle it above her head.

"I'll give it back if you help," I grin.

She glares at me and puts her hand out as if that would get me to relinquish her captured pen. "Fine, just give it back. I don't want it to be sold again."

"That's right, pens must be expensive for commoners. You wouldn't be able to buy a new one," I joke, gaining a scowl. I drop the item into her hand and rock back to return her personal space. "He gave me a clue about horses and Kyouya-sempai. He's not making any sense."

Haruhi snorts. "What kind of game are you two playing with clues like that."

"Ask him, he's the one who put it together. His riddles are awful. Hikaru's never been good with words," I laugh. Suddenly my chest feels tight with that all too familiar warning I've been getting ever since the accident. Haruhi's head snaps up when she hears my watery sniffling.

"Kaoru..."

"I-I kind of think we're p-playing a form of hide and seek. I haven't caught him yet though, he j-just keeps leaving these annoying things."

"Ah...It'll be worth it in the end, Kaoru. I promise. He's waiting for you to finish so you can find him. You need to finish. For whatever reason this meant a lot to him. He wouldn't have planned this for weeks if it didn't." Her voice grew tight. "He wouldn't have continued running to us to get our opinions on his rules and to ask if he was doing everything right either. Hikaru worked really hard on this. You need to finish."

All of my muscles tense to the point it's almost painful. That...she knows what's at the end? She knows so much more than she originally let on. Slowly I turn my eyes on her, fully on her as my mind tried to wrap around what she'd just told me. I open my mouth, about to break the act when she cuts me off before I can even begin. Her voice had returned to a somewhat normal tone.

"Well...it's Hikaru so you know that even though it seems complicated it's probably simple-minded," I give a small chuckle. She smiles up at me momentarily before continuing. "And like you said earlier it's a time and a place, right?"

I nod. "Breaking the third wall, Haruhi?"

"Just listen, Kaoru." She gives an annoyed sigh and shakes her head at me. "I swear, you two..."

"It's getting a bit painful to keep doing that after what you just said..."

Haruhi made no comment, she only continued, switching to the necessary format to keep my from breaking down. "You also said that for the first tape made you remember a time it was snowing. Do you remember a time when Kyouya didn't like being woken up?"

I blink and then close my eyes. There were plenty of times when he didn't want to be woken up. How was he supposed to pinpoint just one moment?

"Don't forget to add in the horse," she reminded.

A horse and Kyouya becoming a demon spawn. A horse. If the tape is in it's mouth then it can't be real, it'd be eaten. I open my eyes and sit up slowly. He'd also used the word prize. Prize and horse. And, while he had woken up Kyouya a few times on his own, sneaking into his house early in the morning so they could do research, Hikaru was never there to know. The only time he was there was when...

"Haruhi is the carnival back in town?"

Her smile was all I needed.

I'm sorry...the POV that I started this in is making this so much harder to write than I intended. Experimentation on First Person DONE. I keep messing up the tense (I'm also bad at finding where I messed up the tense but I know it's there...) and it's much harder to get out all of the things in my head that I want to happen. I may need to switch over to my normal formatting if you guys don't mind. I've been trying to avoid it but damn. If you want faster updates it has to happen.

I already had most of this chapter done-Let's make a deal...If you want a chapter. POKE ME! I'm serious send me PM's I don't know! I have this awful habit of not posting stuff that's ALREADY DONE (minus a few added paragraphs). If you're still here, great. If not, sorry. I'm horrible I know.

Eto...As always review, critique, or drop me a line via PM. I try my best to respond and it's always fun to talk!

ALSO! Different from all other times...Go to my profile and, if you read my other stories, vote on which one you'd like to see updated next. I'm hoping that will motivate me to go faster or something with updates.