"Kaoru!?"

"……….Kaoru, are you in there?! I'm not going to wait all morning, get out!"

I could hear my brother banging on the door. Opening one eye and wiping the other as best I could, I leaned out of the shower and banged back, "I'm almost out, be patient!" I knew that was asking a lot of Hikaru. He never had been one for 'patience'. I pushed off the door and back into the warm water. What I didn't know was that I had knocked the soap off when my pounding had shaken the room. My foot hit the slippery substance left in the tub and the next thing I knew I was dangling over the side of the tub, my ribcage crammed against the bar. Water was spraying all over the bathroom; I must have hit the nozzle when I fell.

Hikaru was pounding on the locked door again. He broke the handle of and rushed in, "Kaoru! Kaoru, are you okay? What happened?" He grabbed my limp arms and pulled me up. If I hadn't been in so much pain, I probably would have cared more that I was butt-naked, and he'd left the door wide open. He reached into the shower and turned the water off, then snatched a big towel of the rack. Gently, he wrapped my waist in it and asked if I was hurting anywhere.

"No Hi-oww!" I winced as he pressed his palm against my right side.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he cried. I couldn't help but laugh. Here I was, sitting on the bathroom floor with my perfect mirror image staring me in the face. Hikaru's eyes were clouded with my own pain, and that was what really hurt me. I reached up and stroked his hair.

"Really Hikaru, it's just going to be a little bruised, nothing to worry about." I tried to stand on the soaking floor, just to slip once again. This time my brother was there to catch me. He smirked and helped me onto the rug that wasn't dripping with bath water. Caringly, cautiously, he helped me to dry off. Just when I was about to unwrap the towel from my waist, I saw two maids peeking in from the hallway.

Hikaru frowned at them and was about to start rampaging when I put my finger on his lips. Shocked, he looked from me, to the maids, and back to me. Silently, I said 'Just close the door Hikaru'. He must have read it in my eyes, because he swung around and slammed the door.

"Kaoru, this is all my fault isn't it?" He asked sadly as he helped me into my Ouran Uniform. I paused, how could it be his fault? If I hadn't dropped the soap none of this would have happened. If he hadn't been about to bust the door down I wouldn't have dropped the soap… NO! I can't put blame on my brother like that! Things happen, there's not always a rhyme or reason, or fault in this case.

I realized that I still hadn't answered him. I tried to think of the right words to say, "Hikaru…its not, I mean…you didn't, no…it's just…" Hmm… "It's nobody's fault Hikaru. What happened happened, and I'm not blaming you." I had no idea what I was saying, but somehow he understood. He brightened up as he looked at the clock.

"We managed to kill two periods! Maybe we should get to school though, just so the Shadow King doesn't skin us and put our hides on his wall of shame." He smiled and took my hand, rushing down to the limo waiting for us outside. On the way through the kitchen he grabbed a Pop-tart packet. When we got into the car he gave me a Pop-tart, apologizing for a cruddy breakfast-on-the-go thing.

I nibbled away at the little…thing. What's a pop-tart made out of anyways? The landscape from our estate to the Academy never really changed, so my 'admiring the scenery' excuse didn't work. "What's wrong Kaoru? Are you hurting? 'Cause we can go back home and get a doctor."

Truth was, I really didn't know what was bothering me. Something just seemed to be eating away at me, nibbling, chewing, biting… "No, I'm fine. Just, can't wait to get to school I suppose." What does Tamaki have planned for the Host Club today? It'd better not be something silly again.

The last four periods seemed to fly by. Maybe I'd been sleeping for most of it, but how could I when this sharp pain kept jabbing at me? It was only a few minutes to the bell was to ring for classes to be dismissed. Now that I acknowledged it, the searing pain in me was growing worse. I gritted my teeth to keep from yelling. Another sharp jab stabbed at me, forcing my hands to grab at my side. My eyes slammed shut and my mouth flew open, "OWW!"

The people around me stared at me with wide eyes. Hikaru stood up so fast that he knocked his chair over. He grabbed my hands and pulled me close to him. His hands intertwined with my hair and he pushed my head into his chest. My hands tightened around his shirt, wrinkling the uniform. If I hadn't been in die-worthy pain, I would have wanted to stay like this forever.

But it was only moments before I found myself at the nurse's office, shirtless, with a freezing metal stethoscope pushed into me. The fan girls huddled around the doors and windows. Irritably, the nurse's assistant slammed the doors while my brother closed the blinds. The nurse told me to lie down and get some rest. I looked at the clock; the Host Club would be opening its doors in five minutes.