"Hika-chan?" Honey cocked his head to the side, his already gigantic eyes widening even more at the sight of his friend laying on the ground at the edge of a dark alley. He and Kaoru had left earlier than the rest, saying something about not wanting to miss the sunset. Honey ran forward, practically skidding to a stop in front of Hikaru, Mori not far behind. "Hika-chan, wake up!" Honey shook the elder Hitachiin's shoulder as Mori searched around for Kaoru. "Takashi, what happened? What do we do? Where's Kao-chan?"

"I don't know, Mitsukuni." Mori stooped and lifted Hikaru off the ground, one arm under his knees, the other supporting his back. He managed to keep his stoic expression in-tact, but Honey could tell his cousin was just as freaked out as he was. The twins were never apart, and Hikaru would never just choose to lay down and fall asleep on the ground. If-in some strange universe-he had made that outlandish decision, Kaoru would be right by his brother's side, watching over, or sleeping next to him. Something had to have happened.

"Takashi, where are we going?" Honey struggled to keep up with Mori's long strides, jogging next to his cousin while he clutched Usa-chan to his chest and forced the tears of fear not to fall. Mori remained silent, simply staring ahead into the night as he mindlessly reached his destination.

"What happened?" Kyoya asked, an edge of concern in his normally calmly cheerful voice.

"We were waking home and saw Hika-chan on the ground, Kao-chan was nowhere nearby." Honey explained as Mori gently set the unconscious Hitachiin down on the couch.

"You're sure?" Kyoya asked, striding quickly over to Hikaru. He seemed to be unharmed apart from a swollen scratch on his wrist.

"You know they're never apart." Honey quit holding his tears back and let them silently drip down his cheeks. He was strong, but his host club shtick wasn't a complete façade. When his friends were involved, his emotions ran high. "If he was on that street he would have been right there with him."

"I suppose you're right." Kyoya agreed. "Once Hikaru wakes up we'll see what he has to say, in the meantime, I'll alert my family's police force about possible mischief."

After alerting the police force, Kyoya took it upon himself to call Haruhi and Tamaki and make them aware of the situation. They were at the Ootari residence within twenty minutes of the call, Tamaki having picked up Haruhi on his way over. The host club awaited Hikaru's regain of consciousness, pacing, tapping their feet, fidgeting, biting their nails, anything that would keep them calmer than simply sitting still. After a couple of hours, Hikaru began to stir. The five aware members crowded loosely around the waking boy, not wanting to startle him when he came to, but wanting answers.

"Kaoru." Hikaru shot up like a bullet after a few moments of writhing on the couch. His eyes were wide, his breath sharp and shallow. "Kaoru!" he jumped to his feet, clearly not realising where he was, and made a dash for the door, only to be intercepted by the hulking mass of Mori stepping in his way.

"Hikaru." Tamaki grabbed the frantic boy's wrist and turned him around. "Hikaru, calm down." Eccentric as he was, Tamaki was surprisingly calm and compassionate in times of distress. "Breathe. Tell us what happened."

"How did I get here?" Hikaru asked as he attempted to steady is breath.

"Takashi and I found you on the sidewalk, we brought you here." Honey stepped forward, wanting so badly to lunge at Hikaru with a giant hug, but restraining himself. "What happened, Hika-chan?"

"Some… someone took Kaoru." Hikaru's eyes darted back and forth wildly as his brain worked a mile a minute, trying to recall every detail of the scene. His cloudy memory betrayed his will to know. "They had a gun, they took him. I couldn't help, I couldn't save him, I couldn't-"

"Woah, woah." Haruhi stepped in, meeting Hikaru's amber eyes with her chocolate ones. "Slow down. Start from the beginning."

Hikaru took a breath and released it slowly before closing his eyes as trying to piece together the shattered fragments of the night. "We were walking home, looking that the stars. I… I started to get dizzy. I think I blacked out for a minute, because I remember being on the ground, but not how I got there. Kaoru was pleading with the man. He had a gun. Kaoru went with him. I couldn't move. I couldn't save him." Tears slipped down Hikaru's face and he bowed his head, using his bangs to cover his eyes. "I couldn't save him."

The room was silent apart from the sound of Kyoya typing away on his cell phone, undoubtedly sending an alert to his police force.

"Hikaru." Tamaki tried to get him to meet his eyes, wanting desperately to help his friend through what was undoubtedly the most difficult thing he would ever go through. His name fell flat, however. Hikaru and Kaoru had never been good at letting others in, especially when one wasn't in the immediate vicinity of the other. Haruhi had seen that when she and Hikaru had spent the day together, he was closed off, even after the ice cream. They could fake being happy, but they were never truly joyful unless they were together.

Suddenly, Hikaru gasped and collapsed to his knees, clutching at his chest, begging silently for air to return to his lungs.

"Hikaru!" Everyone cried. Tamaki and Haruhi knelt to see if Hikaru was alright while Honey clung to Mori's leg and Kyoya called for a nurse.

"What happened?" Haruhi grabbed Hikaru's hand, ignoring the momentary flicker of jealousy that crossed Tamaki's face. He really couldn't push that aside right now? Geez.

Hikaru coughed to get his lungs started up again and reminded himself how to breathe for a few seconds before replying. "Something bad." He whispered.

"What do you mean?" Tamaki's brows knit together as he voiced the group's shared confusion.

"Something's happening to Kaoru..."