"He's just not feeling well is all. It's really not necessary to say good bye," Hikaru called over his shoulder, already yards ahead of Tameki. He wasn't exactly lying to the boss even if he wasn't exactly giving him the full truth. The main thing going through Hikaru's mind was how humiliated Kaoru would be if he happened to remember the next day that the king of the host club saw him in the state he was in now. Hikaru bit down on his bottom lip in slight annoyance as the boss continued to follow him. He obviously wasn't going to let up on this.

"Well, I do feel partly responsible since I'm the one who dragged everyone here in the first place," Tameki responded with concern in his over-dramatic voice.

Oh, sure now he takes responsibility. Hikaru rolled his eyes. There was just no shaking him. He let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding as he decided to accept it. After all, it wasn't like there was anything he could do about it. "He's over this way, but make it short, okay?" His tone had obvious disappointment with just a dash of irritation in it as he waved the blond along.

Just a few moments and they reached the exact spot where he had just left his brother. "Kaoru, say good-" His eyes reached the chair where he had left him. The empty chair. Hikaru blinked twice as he processed. Then annoyance took over, and he turned to Tameki. "He must have wandered off." He twitched.

"Well." Tameki let out an exaggerated sigh. "I guess I'll just have to see him back at the hotel then."

Oh, sure. Now that it's inconvenient, it's not that important. Hikaru was having a hard time keeping his thoughts in as the irritation continued to build. "Yeah, see you there then." His words were harsher than such a simple statement called for.

For a half hour, Hikaru wandered around the giant building, getting lost in it's large hallways. He found a new person or a new group every couple of minutes to ask if they had seen Kaoru. The answer was the same every single time. No. Disappointed and confused, Hikaru made his way back to the entrance where he sat in the chair he had originally left Kaoru in. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Kaoru's number once again as he'd found himself doing multiple times in the last thirty minutes. "Too drunk to even answer the phone..." he mumbled under his breath.

"Excuse me, Hikaru?" A mousey voice hovered over him, and Hikaru looked up from his lap. He jammed the still ringing phone back into his pocket, already realizing Kaoru wasn't going to answer.

"What?" He shot a sharp glare at the girl. He was too annoyed at the fact that Kaoru was lost in this big, stupid building to give a damn about how he treated others. (And it wasn't like he gave that much thought in a normal situation.) His twin was most likely passed out on the cold marble floor in some abandoned room. "Are your eyes broken? Do you need glasses? Couldn't you tell I was on the phone? How rude can you possibly be?"

She looked taken back, but she regained her composure the best she could rather quickly. "Um, I..." She cleared her throat. "I'm sorry. It's just... well, I heard you were looking for Kaoru."

Hikaru jumped out of his seat. "Have you seen him?" He spit the question out like his tongue was on fire.

"Well, yes. I mean, not since he left, b-"

"He left? When?"

"A little over a half hour ago. He walked out with a tall man in a black suit. I heard him tell Kaoru he was a driver or something." She shook her head. "Is Kaoru sick? He was wobbling all over the place..." Concern was taking over her features.

"A man? Our driver for this evening was supposed to be a woman... Are you sure?" He tilted his head to the side in confusion. The girl nodded, and Hikaru pressed his lips together for a short pause. "Okay. Thank you." His tone was a little more forgiving than previously. The girl just nodded and walked away.

Shoving his hand into his pocket, Hikaru yanked out his cell phone and began jamming down buttons. A click could be heard as someone on the other end picked up. "Yes, hello. This is Hikaru Hitachiin. I'm calling about a driver that was recently sent to the Rosemary Mansion. A tall male. What happened to our previous driver?" He paused to listen as the company told him they hadn't switched out their driver. In fact, no driver had been sent out for them yet this evening at all. "A-are you sure?" The man confirmed it. The phone slipped out of Hikaru's fingers and hit the floor as he stood there frozen. His fingers began to shake, and the shaking quickly spread to the rest of his body. Even his eyes were trembling.

"Hikaru?" Haruhi approached him, having been told he was running around the building like a moron yelling about Kaoru. "Hikaru?" She repeated herself when she didn't get a response out of him. Her eyes locked onto the phone laying on the floor before realizing his hand was still hovering next to his ear. Obviously something was very wrong. "Hikaru!" She repeated herself for the third time, only much louder.

Hikaru jumped. Panic was pulsing through his veins. Even his breathing became heavier. He turned to look at Haruhi. She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hikaru, what's wrong?" Her voice was stern.

"K-Kaoru. Kaoru! He's gone! He's off with some guy, and I don't know who it is. I called. It's not a driver, but he just left with him. Stupid Kaoru just left with some random stranger! He didn't even wait for me! Now he's all alone... And it could have been... Well, I don't know! It's probably some psycho, perverted freak! He's going to sell Kaoru over seas to become a sex slave! My Kaoru! And worst of all, he's drunk! His drunken, stupid self!" His eyes raced around the room. He took in quick breaths to make up for the ones he didn't take while talking.

"Kaoru's been... kidnapped?" Haruhi tried to make sense of everything Hikaru had just spit at her.

"Have you not been listening to me?!" He was practically screaming at her. "I-I have to find him!" Hikaru bolted to the door and flung himself through it, whirling past a few people gathering around it. He could hear them yelling at him from behind, but this wasn't the time to turn around and apologize. (Not that he would bother in a normal situation either.)

"Hikaru!" Haruhi called after him as she tried her best to catch up. He was way too fast, but she was managing. "Hikaru, wait!"

"I have to find him!" He called back, still running full speed ahead. His blood was pumping at an out of control pace, and his throat felt like it was on fire. "KAORU!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. Faster and faster he ran down the road. He had no idea where he was going. All he knew was that he couldn't stop. He would tear apart the whole damn city if he had too. Kaoru. Kaoru. Kaoru.

He bolted into a alley, Haruhi still a good ways behind him. Finally, his directionless run came to a halt as his body felt like it was shutting down on him. Panting, he stood in the darkened alley. His hands hit his knees and his eyes starred at the ground, wide open, in disbelief. "Kao-" His panting slowed only slightly. "-ru..."

"Slow down!" Finally Haruhi whipped around the corner to see Hikaru frozen. Coughing, she slowly approached him. "Y-You can't just go bolting off like that! This won't solve anything! Calm down so we can think!" Her annoyance grew as she tried to think of an easier way to find him rather than running aimlessly across town.

He didn't acknowledge her as the emptiness reached out from the darkness in all directions and grabbed hold. "I failed him..." Hikaru's eyes began to well up with tears as his frozen stature started to crack. "I failed him!" He repeated himself as he fell down to his knees and began to sob. Running through his mind were a hundred horrible situations that might have been happening to Kaoru at the very moment. "He must be so scared..." His heart felt like it was shattering into a thousand pieces. His tears grew thicker, and he began to cough, practically chocking on them. Haruhi fell down next to him, throwing a hand on his shoulder with a tight grip, attempting to snap him out of it. Hikaru's entire body was shaking as he wrapped his arms tight around himself. If only they were Kaoru's arms... So similar, yet entirely different in his mind. "K-Kaoru!" He screamed out through his loud crying, following it up with another cough.