GitR 6

AN: To my lovely guest reviewer: I return your seven minutes of life to you with this chapter. Be aware, the coming chapters pick up speed rapidly, so be prepared! (I'm sorry you've had to wait so long - you have suffered much since our last meeting.) Thank you for your review, I loved the small story you told! It was so dramatized and fun to read! Well, here you go, in appreciation for your comments, I give you the next Ghost in the Room and a new chapter of This is Real Life. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I'm just going to stop claiming Castor now - and I only wish I was part of Ouran ...

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Four. Stinking. Hours. Four hours they had been traipsing down this stupid corridor, no end in sight, no sign of their missing friends, and no energy left to care about exploring. Haruhi had finally had enough.

"Guys, come on," she snapped. "There's obviously nobody else down here, and I'm pretty sure we've just been going in circles this whole time! I say we just pick a different path and work more on getting us out of here than finding people who aren't here anymore!"

"But -!" Hikaru yelped, scrambling over Tamaki's head. Haruhi stomped her aching foot.

"No!" She shouted, cutting him off. "You've hit your head badly, we shouldn't have trusted your judgement in the first place! I know you want to find your brother, we all do, but this is ridiculous! I say we get out of here, contact the police, and let them take care of the rest! What do we do if we run into Castor, huh? What then? Think, we can't defend ourselves -"

"And Honey and Mori can!" Hikaru cried. "They're together, with my brother, and they can help protect us once we find them! Please, just let me look for a little while longer!" Haruhi wanted to argue. They had no resources of any kind except for pure adrenaline, they were tired, and they'd lost the trail of blood, the only link to their lost friends they had, a long time ago. She wanted to point out how hurt they were, how they needed medical attention, how since Honey and Mori were expert fighters they'd be fine until real help arrived. She almost fought him. She could have won. And she knew it. She didn't do it. Just like with Tamaki, she couldn't bring herself to fight him when he was so desperate that he would've kept going without them; he stared at her, pleading and just as tired as they were.

Hikaru dropped from Tamaki's back, which he'd been forced to reclaim after that last dizzy spell nearly knocked him out again, and grasped Haruhi's shoulders, whispering to her now that they were so close.

"He's scared," he told her. "He's scared, and hurt, and if anything happens to him, there's no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't go with him. It was never an option. If one of us ever died, we both would. Right now he's so terrified - I can feel it. I don't want him to feel that way. Not ever. Please, let me find him. I have to make sure he's safe, and if we're together, he won't be scared anymore. Please, Haruhi, just a little longer." Haruhi sighed, letting her eyes drop to the dusty floor.

"All right, but if we don't find them in one more hour, we're getting out of here the first chance we get, okay?" Hikaru squeezed her shoulders before his arms dropped back to his sides, reclaiming his fallen lantern.

"Deal. We're close, they probably stopped to rest." He started walking, Tamaki rushing after him despite his sore arms.

"Hikaru! Get back here! You're not supposed to be walking yet, remember? Hikaru!"

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"I'm thirsty, Takashi," Honey whined sleepily, cuddling up to his cousin. Mori grunted, draping an arm around him, perhaps to keep him warm. His broken arm he kept in his lap, and Honey was very careful to avoid touching it in any way. Kaoru closed his eyes, breathing out slowly.

"Sorry, sempai, if I had any you'd be welcome to it," he sighed. Honey yawned.

"That's okay, Kao-chan. I can wait." He fell asleep soon after, snuggled safely under Mori's touch. Mori, as was customary, only slid a brief apologetic look towards Kaoru and closed his eyes, apparently exhausted. Kaoru wasn't surprised; after seeing the amount of tranquilizers decorating them only hours ago, it would make sense that they were still feeling the effects of the sleeping agents. He himself hadn't been stuck with any tranquilizers, but he was tired - wandering around without breaking for almost five hours did that to a person.

"KAAAOOORRUUUU!" His head shot up just in time to be crushed by his near hysterical twin, a group of lanterns held by the remaining Host Club lighting the area much better than his solitary light.

"Hikaru," he said in surprise, automatically wrapping his arms around him. "I didn't know you got down here, too!"

"You IDIOT, are you hurt? Why didn't you stay still, where we could find you?" Kaoru laughed into familiar auburn hair.

"I'm okay. I wasn't sure what happened, so I just grabbed a light and started walking. I wasn't even sure where I was going, but at least I ran into Honey and Mori, otherwise I would've been really lost." They pulled apart, and Kaoru immediately frowned at the dirty blue shirt tied around his brother's head, a trail of dried blood streaking down his face.

"And you call me the idiot," he snorted, lightly touching the wraps. Hikaru grinned sloppily.

"Ha, we're twins. We're both idiots." Kyoya motioned to the sleeping duo.

"Touching, but how are we going to move them?" Haruhi dropped to the ground, stretching her arms out.

"We don't, I'm tired and I'm going to stay right here with them. Let's take shifts and rest up a bit. If we need to move, we will." Kyoya nodded thoughtfully.

"That's not a bad idea. I'll take the first shift, if you don't mind." There were no complaints, so they made themselves comfortable, Haruhi leaning against Honey leaning against Mori, the twins near her, distance wisely kept, and Tamaki sprawled on the floor as though it were his bed at home. Kyoya sat across the hall from them, fortunately just a few feet away, and watched them sleep. It was all very boring. He took his glasses off and cleaned them on his shirt, frowning at the crack running across the right lens. With nothing better to do, he leaned back on the wall and watched the hosts as they slept, dull as it was. He needed to occupy himself somehow.

He could very vividly picture the evil man holding them hostage in the maze - like structure. He was immune to any sorts of sleeping agents, a privilage granted to him by his special blood type, and had witnessed most of the kidnapping from behind squinted eyelids. Among the misty fog of sleeping agents and unconscious hosts, a large man had stomped in, his beady little eyes glinting in glee as his gaze landed on Rin and Tamaki. One by one, and single handedly, they had been dragged out and loaded into a plain white van hidden in the shrubs decorating Ouran Academy's drive. They had been taken approximately five and a quarter hours away, to a large, crumbling mansion, shrouded in fading light and the scent of death. They had been temporarily grouped together, and while Castor had left them alone, Kyoya knew he'd be back soon, and hurriedly took advantage of the situation to take stock of their surroundings. His findings only included several dead end rooms, full of eerily decorated and positioned human dolls, in fully furnished areas.

They were moved yet again, downstairs, and split up. After that, Castor only returned to bind them, and wearing a different set of clothes that stank of old blood. Kyoya hadn't had the nerve to search further for anything but an escape, but he was unsuccessful, mostly due to his restrictions, and eventually ran into the rest of the Host Club. Based on the size of the mansion and the unconventional set up of the construction, it was unlikely he could plot a course of action, as doors and windows seemed sparse and not where they usually were. It was an old building, to be sure, and likely built to confuse possible enemies during war times. It was working to their disadvantage now, and Kyoya couldn't see any way around finding an escape besides looking as far as they could. The confusing maze had left Kyoya disoriented as to where they had entered long ago. As far as he could see, they merely had to keep going as they were, searching for a way out as they went. Across from him, Honey whimpered softly in his sleep, and Mori shifted his hand to rest on the smaller head without batting an eye. Kyoya smiled to himself as the short blond instantly settled back to sleep.

Their odd assortment of hosts certainly was special. Their strength and perseverance in the midst of all this, kidnapped, with Rin …well. They were certainly courageous. He'd never seen Tamaki in such a horrid state, or Haruhi so concerned. And yet, here they all were, pushing on, putting priorities first and saving their grief and fears for when they had the safety to afford such. As long as Castor didn't find them, they had a chance of survival. A groan from across the way garnered his attention once more, and he watched with a raised eyebrow as not one, but two, hosts began uncomfortably twitching in their sleep. Specifically, Kaoru and Mori. The first wasn't that unexpected, but Mori?

"Now there's a surprise," he murmured aloud. Closest to him, Tamaki stirred, known quite well for being a light sleeper, and cracked open a red ringed eye to peer up at him.

"Something wrong, Kyoya?" He slurred, not entirely awake. Kyoya motioned for him to keep his voice low and leaned closer.

"It appears that we won't get far if we are slowed down by our own stupidity and denial," Kyoya offered. "If you're going to be complete morons about this, then at least have the decency to allow at the very least a trickling stream of wisdom into your thick skulls." Tamaki's head lolled to the side, and Kyoya sighed.

"If we're injured, let's take care of it so we can live," Kyoya repeated more simply.

"Oh. You know, Kyoya, you could stand to be just a bit more coherent the first time around," Tamaki told him. Kyoya only pushed his glasses further up his nose. He'd heard the same speech countless times, and it no longer bothered him anymore.

"You seem to be missing my point here. I doubt it's been any longer than two days since we've been kidnapped, and if we're already at a disadvantage due to injuries, then wouldn't it be a good idea to care for them as best we can?"

Three …two …one …

"Oh, I getcha, so if we're more prepared, then we have a better chance of escaping!" Tamaki exclaimed. Kyoya smiled, the look of relief barely visible.

"Exactly. Give me a hand here, moving around freely is rather difficult for me at present."

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Stomp, thump, stomp, creak …

Castor grinned, his crimson spotted crescent moon of a smile gleaming in the near dark. Those beautiful blonds he'd stumbled across when hunting for better models had been so flawless, so perfect, and finding the others had been the icing on the cake. This chase they were on through the mansion was so fun, so exhilarating! But he needed to catch at least one to work on. The girl had been hard work, she'd made him sweat, and it'd been exciting. He wanted more, so much more! Separation was the key to getting what he wanted now. He flicked the hall light to life. The trail of bloody drips beneath him never wandered. This part was going to be so very easy that he couldn't resist the bellowing laugh that burst out of him at the thought. Oh, yes, so much fun…

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AN: Whew ...these are hard to make believable. Well, I suppose I don't have to ...hm ...anywho, I hope you enjoyed their little reunion! Was it too rushed? I'm trying to pace it without it being dull. Let me know what you thought, and if you're so inclined, please check out my other stories on my page! (And leave a review, if you don't mind - I enjoy reading them, and it gives me motivation to post sooner!) Thank you! \( ' - ' )/