A/N: This is only my 3rd fanfic, and my first ever posted here. Please read and review. Constructive criticism is graciously accepted, flaming is not.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Host Club characters. I am only borrowing them. I promise to put them back when I'm done.

oOoOo

The plan was simple. Kaoru was to circle around the building to sneak up from behind, while Hikaru prevented her escape from the front. It was a typical 'kidnap the commoner' maneuver. They had executed it dozens of times. Why should this time be any different? But it was. Hikaru had done his best to keep Haruhi from heading home, but without his brother's assistance, he had been unsuccessful. No amount of cajoling from the single twin could keep her from her destination. He watched helplessly as she walked down the sidewalk to the train station. Where was Kaoru? Why hadn't he played his part? "When I find him," he fumed, "I'm going to have to give him a good beating." Hikaru stormed off in search of his other half.

oOoOo

Kaoru ran around the side of the building, a grin on his face. He loved plotting with his brother, and anticipated the fun they would have with their 'toy' this afternoon. As he turned the next corner, however, his fanciful thoughts were cut short by what felt like a brick wall. He barely managed to keep his balance as the brick wall slowly turned and glared down at him. It was Masao Shinoda. He belonged to a well known Yakuza family. Unlike in Kasanoda's case, sometimes appearances weren't deceiving. It was fully expected that Masao would follow in his father's footsteps. He already had several loyal followers, and two of them stood behind Masao with equally menacing glares on their faces.

"Hey!" Masao thundered.

"Gomen! Gomen!" Kaoru stammered, bowing in way of apology, as he slowly backed away. 'Oh crap, I'm in trouble now.' he thought, though he was a bit bemused by the situation. Leave it to a twin to tick off a tank.

"You! You're one of them!" growled Masao. "I've seen you and your fag brother. It's disgusting how you hang all over each other. How all those girls could go crazy over a pair of queers like you two is beyond me. It's unnatural and sickening. I think you need to be taught a lesson about being a man." Masao and his goons advanced on the single twin.

No longer amused, Kaoru decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and he turned tail and ran rather than face these thugs alone. Kaoru was a pretty good runner, but these guys had years of experience chasing down victims, and they were not far behind him.

Perhaps if he had been thinking clearly, he would not have made such a stupid mistake. Perhaps if Hikaru had been with him, they would have gone in a different direction, maybe toward some place more populated. But he was not thinking clearly, and Hikaru was not with him. He headed straight into the hedge maze.

He turned left and right randomly as he bolted down the paths of the maze, not paying attention to where he was going. Hikaru had always been better at finding his way through the maze, and Kaoru usually just followed his twin. Now he hoped that Masao and friends were just as lost as he was, and that he could escape them among the twists and turns. Just when he thought he would make it, he turned a corner and was faced with a tall hedge wall, a single stone bench in front of it. 'Shit, a dead end,' he cursed. He turned to back track, but it was too late. Masao and his goons blocked the path behind him. Malevolent grins spread across their faces.

"You shouldn't have run, boy," Masao sneered, "We might've gone easy on you….but probably not," he added with a chuckle. "In case you hadn't guessed, we don't like your kind. You and your homo brother nauseate us. It's repulsive. Maybe if you were punished for your offensive behavior, you might think twice before touching each other like that again." They closed in on the cornered twin.

Kaoru managed to duck under Masao's first swing, which only served to further enrage the brute. The twin even succeeded in landing a few punches of his own before he was overpowered. He was no match for the three large tormenters, not when he was alone anyway. Had Hikaru been there, they might have stood a chance together. Kaoru was not used to fighting by himself. He did his best to fend them off, but they took full advantage of their superior number, and took turns holding him while the other two did the beating. Kaoru was not sure which hurt more, the angry blows that rained down upon him, or the harsh words slung at him concerning his brother and their relationship.

When Masao and his thugs had finally had enough, Kaoru was left broken and bleeding in a heap on the ground. "And that concludes our lesson for today," chortled Masao, adding one more kick for good measure. "If I were you, I'd keep my mouth shut about this. We might decide that your brother needs a lesson too, and we won't be as nice to him as we were to you." He gave a cruel laugh, and his cronies joined in. They turned their backs on their handiwork and strode away, congratulating one another on a job well done.

Kaoru lie motionless for awhile, waiting for the world to stop spinning. Finally, with a groan, he rolled over to assess the damage. His entire body hurt. Very little of it was left unbruised. From the pain that breathing caused him, he guessed that he had a few cracked, if not broken ribs. He tasted blood from his split lip, and his left eye was nearly swollen shut. Blood trickled down from the lump on his head where it had connected with the stone bench during the fight.

He couldn't let Hikaru see him like this. His twin would freak out. He at least needed to get cleaned up first. With much effort, Kaoru struggled to his feet and stumbled against the hedge. Using the hedge for support, he began the arduous task of finding his way out of the maze and to the infirmary.

oOoOo

Hikaru walked around the outside of the building to see what possibly could have detained his brother. He suspected that maybe some Host Club customers had waylaid him, but he saw no sign of his brother anywhere outside the building. Maybe he forgot something in Music Room 3. Hikaru headed up there, but all he found was Kyoya still pouring over his notebook.

"Have you seen Kaoru?" he asked Kyoya.

"Not since the two of you left after Host Club ended for the day."

"Crap," was Hikaru's annoyed reply. "Where the hell did he go? He was supposed to help me kidnap Haruhi this afternoon. Now what are we going to do? This is boring." Kyoya just shrugged and turned his attention back to his notebook. "Some help you are," mumbled Hikaru. He stomped out of the music room to go check the classrooms, but he had no luck there either.

After searching everywhere else on campus he could think that Kaoru might be hiding, he sat down on a bench, exhausted. "Fine, I give up!" declared Hikaru to himself. "I'm going home. He's probably there now, laughing his fool head off at me. I bet he was trying to set me up with Haruhi again. Well, it didn't work this time." Hikaru stood up and dejectedly headed for home.

oOoOo

"Hi Mom, I'm home," announced Hikaru upon his arrival. It felt odd not saying 'We're home.'

"Where's Kaoru?" she inquired. "Isn't he with you?"

"No, the idiot took off on me. I thought he would be here."

"Oh, after the nurse called I sent a car around for him. I figured you were with him."

"No, I walked home…..Wait, did you say nurse?" Hikaru asked with a note of panic in his voice. He hadn't thought to check the infirmary.

"Yes, apparently he got hurt somehow, but they patched him up and called here. I imagine he should be home soon," his mother assured him. She had long since given up on worrying excessively about her boys. If she hadn't, she would be a basket case by now. Besides, they usually looked out for each other pretty well. "I am looking forward to hearing the details from him. The nurse did not elaborate on the phone. I figured the two of you had gotten yourselves into trouble again, but I guess that's not the case for a change."

Well, if his mother was this calm, it couldn't be too bad, could it? "I'm going to go start my homework," he said as he headed up the stairs. He was still mad at his twin for disappearing, but couldn't help but worry about him.

Not long after, Hikaru heard the car pull up out front. He figured Kaoru would be up right away, but he wasn't. Their mother must have cornered him, and was interrogating him. Hikaru was curious, but he forced himself to wait for his brother to come upstairs. He knew that whatever line Kaoru was feeding to his mother probably wasn't the truth anyway. He tried to turn his attention back to his school work, but he found it hard to concentrate. It seemed like forever before Hikaru heard their bedroom door open.

"It's about time you showed up," scolded Hikaru, not looking up from his books. "I looked all over for you, you know."

"I'm sorry," said Kaoru softly. Hikaru finally glanced up at him and gasped at what he saw. Kaoru's face was bruised and distorted. A bandage covered his right temple. He held an ice pack in his hand, as though unsure of where he should put it first. He stood staring at Hikaru in a daze. Hikaru leapt from his chair and ran to his twin.

"My God!" cried Hikaru, encircling his brother in his arms. Kaoru winced at the contact and stepped back. Hikaru, noting his reaction, slowly lifted his brother's shirt and peered underneath. A white bandage was wrapped around his thin torso. The skin left uncovered was a deep shade of purple. Hikaru's fingers gently hovered over the discolored skin. "What the hell happened to you?" he whispered, unable to tear his eyes away from the painful injury.

"I fell," Kaoru replied simply.

"You fell?" Hikaru asked incredulously, staring wide eyed at his brother.

"I fell hard," he qualified, in way of explanation.

"What? Off a cliff?" Hikaru's voice rose. "Don't give me that crap! Mom might buy stupid excuses like that, but I won't. Tell me what happened!" he demanded.

"It was nothing. I did something stupid, and got hurt. Nothing is broken. I'll be fine. I think I need to lie down though." Kaoru was feeling dizzy again. His knees went weak and he slumped against his brother. Hikaru walked him over to the bed. Now was not the time to fight. His brother needed him. He carefully helped Kaoru out of his clothes. Tears filled Hikaru's eyes as the removal of each article of clothing revealed further damage. Once he had Kaoru in pajamas and lying down, he crawled into bed next to him as gently as he could. The twins lay facing one another, their eyes locked.

"Here, you should put this on your eye," Hikaru said, handing his brother the ice pack.

"Thank you," Kaoru said, carefully placing it over his black eye. "For everything," he added.

"I guess we won't be able to play the 'Which one is Hikaru?' game for awhile," Hikaru said, his fingers gently brushing the hair from his twin's face.

"I guess not," Kaoru agreed, the corner of his mouth turning upward slightly. It was the best smile he could manage at the moment. The pain killers they had given him at the infirmary were doing their job, and he began to drift off.

Hikaru watched his brother's sleeping form with concern. What was he hiding? His twin had never kept secrets from him before. At least not that he knew of anyway. It was obvious that it was someone and not something that had hurt Kaoru. But who, and why? And why wouldn't Kaoru be willing say what happened? Hikaru was determined to figure this out, but he had to do it without hurting Kaoru any further. Whoever had done this would be truly sorry. With thoughts of revenge running through his head, Hikaru eventually fell asleep, his brother's hand gently clasped in his own.