Greetings. I give you a new angsty story. Or at least the short beginning to one!

IMPORTANT UPDATE. I REWROTE THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS BECAUSE I WAS UNSATISFIED AND I HAD A CHANGE OF THOUGHT.

This story starts off kind of slow and speeds up as it goes along.

Droplets stroked quickly through the air, falling delicately on the world around him.

Kaoru loved the rain.

So, as he walked through waves of down pouring water, he couldn't help but lose himself completely to the serenity.

The clouds above him were dark and ominous, yet strangely otherworldly, giving Kaoru a feeling of awe as he strode down a pathway lining a few shops, his head upturned to the sky.

Droplets of soothing water cascaded over his shut eyelids, trailing slowly down his cheeks and over his mouth, soaking his clothes.

But he didn't care.

He loved the feeling of being completely alone for once, alone with the rain and pillars of cloud. He breathed in the misty air. It smelled of wet asphalt.

There was nobody around; everyone else was inside hiding from the storm. Everyone sane was keeping dry, including Hikaru. Kaoru snorted at himself.

Kaoru had been chosen as the person to make a quick run to the fabric store during the downpour. His mother had run out of a certain fabric she needed for a ballroom gown she was constructing for the wife of some upper class politician.

The ball was a boring businesspeople gala that would be held in a few days, so there was no time to spare. Unfortunately, Kaoru and Hikaru would be attending as well. They had both protested of course, but it had been no good. Their mother had been persistent, and their father had insisted. Once Mr. Hitachiin told his sons to do something, they had to do it. It was how it was.

Kaoru continued to walk slowly through the blowing downpour, his eyes closed.

He reached the end of the sidewalk and looked both ways down the road. There wasn't a car in sight. It was slightly ominous, but although rain was falling steadily, the sun was shining bright through crevices in the clouds, lighting the air around him and allowing him to feel at ease.

He jogged needlessly to the sidewalk across the way and arrived at a small high end store called Fwaré. His mother ordered all of her fabric from the store since it was within walking distance of their mansion.

The windows were dark. He cupped his hands and tried to look through the droplet covered glass.

Nobody was inside. He tried the door. It was locked.

Kaoru sighed but didn't really mind. He loved his little walk through the storm.

He turned on his heel and began his trek back home. He did it slowly. He had no reason to rush.

He trekked along the wet pavement with his hands in his pockets.

He strode past an alleyway between two shops and thought he caught a bit of movement out of the corner of his eye. He hesitated for half a second then continued past the alley. It was probably a cat. Strays were common in that area.

Though that was the most likely case, Kaoru walked a little faster as a sliver of doubt slipped its way into his thoughts.

Cats, after all, hate water. So why would a stray be out in the open during a storm?

He snorted at his own foolishness for the second time. He was just being paranoid.

Kaoru flinched when he heard a small splash from behind him. He smiled at his own stupidity once again.

It was only a large drop of rain, that's all. Nothing to worry about.

Fear blossomed in his stomach as a heard another unnatural splash. He jogged to the end of the sidewalk and then built up enough courage to turn around.

His stomach dropped. Through the gusty mist, he could see the partial silhouette of a large man standing next to the alley opening.

Kaoru swallowed hard, his mind balancing between two options; greet the stranger, or run.

Being the heroic and polite boy he was, he turned tail and ran. After only a few seconds of running, he felt a heavy hand clasp his shoulder from behind, and Kaoru stopped dead, the hand forcing him to turn.

He found himself staring up into the eyes of a large, rather friendly looking man.

"I am so sorry. Did I scare you?" The man said warmly as he released Kaoru, who stumbled backwards, blinking rain out of his eyes.

Kaoru quickly recovered from his terror and straightened himself. He fixed his hair and promptly forced a smile onto his face.

"Oh, no I'm sorry. I was just trying to get out of the rain. I came to see if a certain shop was open, but it was closed. Just my luck." Kaoru chuckled politely.

Wow, I am a moron.

"Ah, yes. That tends to happen at this hour on Sunday. These shops close early." The man said with a huff. The man offered his hand to Kaoru. Kaoru took it.

"My name is Dean Harding." The man said. Kaoru shook his hand and nodded.

That name has a very familiar ring to it. I should know his name, there aren't many American families in these parts.

"I'm Kaoru. If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing in an alley in the middle of a rainstorm?" Kaoru asked, his body relaxing as it realized he was in no danger. Although Dean was no cat, he most definitely wasn't some psycho. Dean was big, sure, but well kept and young, maybe in his thirties.

Sure, his arrival was really odd.

But he was no old pervert. Kaoru had no reason to worry, though the fact that Dean was in an alley was strange. And Kaoru wasn't too keen on the fact that he was all alone with Dean with nobody else around. He'd seen criminal minds. He knew that you can never be too careful.

"I was looking for my wallet. I was here at a shop earlier and I lost it."

"And you thought you would find it in an alley?" Kaoru chuckled.

Dean shrugged and smiled.

"It doesn't hurt to check." Dean stated humorously. Kaoru looked around and realized the rain had stopped.

How disappointing.

"Nice to meet you Kaoru, but my ride is here."

Dean walked past Kaoru, who turned and saw that a long black limo had pulled up beside them while they were conversing.

Well, he has money, that's for sure. It's strange that a man with money and a familiar name, probably the son of some businessman, would look for his own wallet instead of sending servants to do the searching for him.

Dean paused before getting in and turned back to Kaoru.

"Do you need a ride?" Dean asked warmly.

Dean seemed like a decent man, and Kaoru could sense that Dean was an upper class citizen, but Kaoru couldn't ignore the high pitched ringing of Hikaru's voice in his head screaming 'stranger danger, stranger danger!'

"Nah, I like to walk. Thanks, though." Kaoru said graciously. Dean seemed to pout a little, but then he shrugged.

Kaoru watched as Dean disappeared into the sleek car with a wave goodbye.

Kaoru smiled as the limo pulled away and he began his trek home.

"They were closed?" Hikaru asked as he opened the entrance door before Kaoru had even touched the knob.

Kaoru nodded and shook his hair, showering an unhappy Hikaru with water droplets.

Hikaru grimaced and ruffled Kaoru's hair. Kaoru groaned and fixed it while Hikaru laughed and made his way toward the living room.

"So, how was your stroll through the rain? Did you do any singing?" Hikaru asked as he collapsed into a sofa. Kaoru followed him into the room.

"Ha ha, very funny. There was some guy in an alley. He scared the crap out of me, but he was actually a pretty nice guy."

"Wait, you talked to a guy prowling around an alley?" Hikaru asked in mock horror.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Creeper alert." Hikaru said as he flicked on their flat screen with the remote control. Kaoru snorted.

"No, he was young. His name sounded familiar too, he might know dad. I'm gonna crash upstairs. Tell mom that the store was closed." Kaoru said as he made his way toward the stairs. Hikaru rose the remote above his head in confirmation.

Kaoru shut the bedroom door quietly. He opened a window slightly to allow a breeze in, making note of how pale his skin looked in the cool light from the window, and grabbed an extra pillow from Hikaru's bed before collapsing onto his own queen sized comforter.

He sighed and closed his eyes. The sound of a light rain starting up once again trickled through his ears.

He fell into unconsciousness quickly, even thought the clock on the nightstand beside him read that it was only six thirty six.

Hikaru blew a strand of orange hair out of his face as he flicked through channels with no particular interest in anything on.

He settled with a game show. Though a bright red headline flashed across the screen and the show was interrupted by a breaking news alert soon after. Hikaru groaned and twisted around on the couch in utter frustration.

He sat up and watched the television broadcast mournfully.

"We received news from the police only minutes ago."

Probably another purse snatching. Who cares.

Hikaru paid attention to the report, however, when the next line was mentioned.

"A body was found in an alleyway by a popular fabric shop called Fwaré. Medics have released that the victim, yes, victim, as this death has been dubbed a murder, had been dead less than an hour when an owner from another local shop found the body."

"Oh my God." Hikaru breathed.

What if alley creeper was more than just a creeper. Kaoru may have just spoken to a killer. This is crazy. He could have been killed. Just like that.

Hikaru swallowed hard.

Kaoru could have been taken from me.

"Shut up, Hikaru. It could be a coincidence. I'm sure there are multiple alleyways near that shop." Hikaru whispered to himself.

"-if you saw anything suspicious around that area or if someone has information of any kind, please call the following number-" The newswoman blared. A phone number flashed onto the television screen.

Hikaru stared at the number on the screen with furrowed eyebrows.

He hesitated, then pulled out his cellphone.

Kaoru shot up in bed, a sudden noise startling him out of sleep. He rubbed his arm as his eyes adjusted. His room was dark, almost pitch black. Kaoru glanced at the digital clock beside him. It read ten twenty four at night. He looked across the room at his twin's bed. It was empty. That wasn't unusual, Hikaru was a night owl.

So who was nosing around his room?

Kaoru gasped as the creak of a floorboard ripped through the silence of his bedroom. His eyes shot around the room. A dark shadow moved in the corner of his eye.

"Hikaru?" He whispered ever so softly. There was no answer.

He sunk into his bed and pulled up his covers like a child frightened by a noise in the night.

A breeze blew through Kaoru's soft orange hair. He looked to his window and froze. It was wide open.

There it is, the start of a new crime/angst/brotherly fanfiction. Anyway, wow. I am way too obsessed with writing crime stuff. I love it so much though! I will probably write many crime books when I grow older, or maybe I'll just start now! Also, I apologize making this chapter so long, but it's just how it turned out when I rewrote it. It's slower going as well. I tried to make it quicker in the original chapter, but I didn't like it. Either way, Review lovelies.