Chapter Two: The Tragic Life of a Shiner

"Tamaki, did you take my best leather jacket?" Hikaru shouted out to his adopted brother, looking throughout the shining halls of one of the floors of Ouran Building that belonged to them, getting closer and closer to Tamaki's bedroom. "Tamaki, did you hear…" The rest of the question died in his throat when he saw him wearing the jacket and laying on his bed. The only odd thing was that Kyoya was straddling his legs without a shirt on and his correcting goggles were tossed to the side.

Kyoya stared at Hikaru, frozen in the position he was in while previously kissing down Tamaki's chest. Both of the male's visible gears were working at nearly double the pace, showing that they were definitely enjoying it. "Daddy, I believe we have company." He said to his mate in his usual monotonous voice.

"Just…send my jacket into Cleaning when you're done." Hikaru instructed before leaving the room. He started wandering through the halls again, relieved to not be surrounded by people who wanted something from him.

"Hika-chan!" He heard Hunni's voice, the product of a slightly faulty voice box that hasn't fully matured yet. The shorter Shiner ran up to him, grinning. "What are you doing all by yourself?"

"Nothing, just felt like being alone for a while." He replied, attempting to give the older boy a smile.

"You could have come to the Cake Café with me and Mori. You're always welcome." Mori caught up at this point to his SoulMate, making him smile wider and jump up to the tall man's shoulders.

"You guys know I can't right now. It's hard for me. You're all mated and I'm the odd one out." Hikaru told the two, even though the words were more directed at Mori. Out of Hikaru's four friends, Mori always understood why Hikaru spent most of his time alone. Mori nodded and slightly smiled. Hikaru smiled back and walked back to his room.

He sat down at his desk and opened one of the few open feeds to chat over video, a usually unused mode of communication. The feed he joined the most was nicknamed "Mateless and Almost Proud." The feed paired individuals with one other person, so you could vent your feelings or talk about your day or anything. You rarely personally knew the person it paired you with.

This time it paired him with a Shocker. She was wearing a scarf over her neck, but he could still see the faint glow of the excess energy. The teenage girl ran a hand through her short brown hair and frowned.

"Kaoru? I thought you were going to go to bed early tonight." Now it was Hikaru's turn to be confused.

"Who's Kaoru?"

"Ha ha, very funny. You trick me by pretending to go to bed but really you hack the feed to make fun of me. Go back to bed." The screen went black, showing that the girl had logged off.

"Well that was awkward." Hikaru muttered to nobody in particular before starting to arrange his bed differently from how the servants made it. Ever since he was adopted by the Suhoh family at age four, he could never sleep with all of the pillows under his head. Some nights he suffered from terrible nightmares brought on by loneliness, so he arranged some of the pillows as though another person was lying with him. "Goodnight."

"Hey, were you online earlier?" Haruhi asked Kaoru, barging into his room.

"What? No, I've been reading." He pointed at the haphazard stack of old books on the edge of his desk. She looked at him, then to the large stack, confused, before shaking her head and going back to her room.

Kaoru shrugged and went back to his worn and dog-eared copy of the SoulMate Properties. Some might say he was obsessed with finding his mate, but he was just lonely. Throughout most of his life he had terrible dreams often, and he wanted somebody to cuddle up to at night to feel better and know he wasn't alone in the world. It may sound cheesy, but even Haruhi and Kasonada believed that people like Kaoru weren't meant to be alone. Haruhi constantly worried about him and though she never said so, it was obvious with how she acted around him.

She didn't say anything to him when he was up into the early hours of the morning from not being able to sleep, messing with his growing collection of spare parts. She held her tongue when Kasonada taught him how to pickpocket and shoplift from people to add to said collection. She was reaching the extent of her restraint on the matter, knowing the longer he went without finding his SoulMate, the worse it was going to get.

The next day…

"Are you ready to go, Kaoru? I told you we were going into the city today." Kasonada knocked on the teen's bedroom door with one hand and put on a thin scarf to cover the flesh between his gas mask and jacket with the other. The door finally opened, revealing a fully dressed Kaoru.

He was wearing tight black pants tucked into mid-calf leather boots with a long-sleeve black shirt and a matching jacket. He nodded as he pulled on his 5-lens goggles before wrapping a thick scarf around his hair, neck, mouth, and nose to act as the gas mask that somebody stole from him. "I'm ready."

They had to walk into the city since the only public transport in the area broke down and the roads in the poorer parts of the city were closed. Kasonada attempted at starting up a few conversations, but Kaoru didn't fall for it. They both knew that Haruhi told Kasonada to take Kaoru into the city was because she was worried about him being alone while she was at work.

When they arrived at the shopping Center, Kasonada pulled Kaoru to the side and handed him a printed list and a small pouch of coins. "Here is half the list Haruhi gave me, and half of the coins. I trust you to take care of this half yourself, so make sure you get a receipt and keep the change. Don't talk to anybody except the shop keepers. We'll meet back here later." On that note, Kasonada walked into the crowd of people with his half of the money and shopping list, and Kaoru was left deep in the city by himself for the first time.

"I'm going out." Hikaru repeated, answering Tamaki's repeated question of "Where are you going?"

"But that doesn't answer my question!" He nearly shouted from his spot on Kyoya's lap.

"Leave it alone, daddy. He isn't going to tell you." Kyoya murmured into the blonde's ear, calling Tamaki "daddy" at his insistence and habit of calling his SoulMate "mommy". The blonde pouted and leaned on his SoulMate's shoulder.

"Have fun, Hikaru. Don't leave the building." Tamaki half-heartedly joked. "Don't leave the building" was a running joke in Ouran Building, ever since a group of Shiners left the building twenty years prior, and when they came back they tracked Dust and grime everywhere, taking months to clean it completely off.

Hikaru nodded and put his never-used gas mask into his shoulder bag. "Of course I won't. I'm not stupid." He called over his shoulder, getting into the elevator that would take him to the shopping areas on the lower floors. He walked quickly through the aisles of shops, ignoring the salespeople that constantly tried to convince him and his friends to shop there.

After the hallway was clear of shops, Hikaru kept walking and snuck into the never-used fire-escape staircase that led to the world outside of Ouran Building. He put on his gas mask awkwardly, having only put it on once in school for health class.

He stood still for a few moments, taking a few deep breaths to dissolve the knot of nervousness that settled in his torso. The workings of his chest were moving at double the pace, making the rest of his body fight to keep up.

"You can do it, Hikaru. Don't be a coward." He muttered to himself, slowly lifting his hand to the opening mechanism and opening the door to the outside world.

Hello again. Just so you know, I'm planning on updating twice a week, but sometimes I might not be able to. I hope you enjoy the story.

Song of the Chapter: Counting Stars by One Republic

I would like to thank my wonderful beta who helps translate the writing that happens when I get inspiration while half asleep.