Balanced.

Kaoru thought that that was a passable adjective to describe his present state of mind.

It was decidedly strange now, looking back on his own thoughts and actions, and trying to figure out what in the name of god he was thinking. There was just no… well… balance to any of it. A maddening cycle of extremes that all revolved mercilessly around Hikaru.

He was unnaturally enamored with his twin brother. (That, balance or no, he was mildly sure would never change.) That was one side of the coin. A hopelessly smitten, loyal to a fault Kaoru who had the patience and understanding of a saint, and was self-sacrificing to the point of his own misery.

It was disgusting in a way, to be so spinelessly giving and submissive.

On the flip side of that coin however was a ruthless, sadistic Kaoru whose hatred consumed all other thoughts, who knew no forgiveness or mercy, only endless barrages of cruelty and cynicism.

It was equally disgusting to know he was capable of harboring such a thing.

However, with his newfound balance, he was left with a selectively loyal, for-the-most-part patient, moderately self-sacrificing, mildly sadistic, and slightly cynical Kaoru that was still unnaturally enamored with his twin brother.

Either way, there was no point in dwelling on it. He had made his bed as the saying went, and he would rather at least try to sleep before tossing and turning all night, wondering how he could have done it better.

After all, they still hadn't talked about it.

They were so close. The feeling of Hikaru's arms around his waist, the pleading look in Hikaru's eyes, the thrum of Hikaru's pulse under his fingertips, the bare ghost of Hikaru's breath on his lips—

Neither he nor his brother seemed to be particularly eager to bring up the subject, and while nowhere near the sort of conflict that had transpired, there was a certain edge to their interaction now.

There was no shame or regret there, of that much he was sure, but a sort of nervous uncertainty, like what he imagined someone who had just lost their virginity felt like once everything was said and done.

Hikaru clung to his hand, joked plenty, smiled brightly, laughed easily, but never quite looked him in the eye, and had he been the type to bet, he would have wagered that he more or less did the same.

They really needed to talk.

But 2:28 AM was not the time to do it.

Kaoru sighed quietly to himself and turned over to see Hikaru sleeping soundly, hand only just barely extended over where their beds where pushed together. He grasped his brother's hand gingerly, smiling to himself as Hikaru made a faint humming noise in his sleep.

Maybe tomorrow.

-oOo-

It could have been any other morning.

The twin maids wake them promptly with a chorusing Good morning Young Masters! and proceed to lay out their uniforms and generally bother them until they are conscious enough to take care of themselves.

I feel really groggy, shouldn't have stayed up so late.

After acknowledging each other sleepily they wash up and get dressed in silence, checking each other's appearances briefly before departing their room.

Maybe I'll take a nap in math, Hikaru can fill me in later.

They are greeted at breakfast by their ever exuberant mother, who happens to be between business trips. They eat and chat with her about school and work and before long the harmonic voices of their maids inform them that it's time to go to school.

Mom looked really happy.

They say goodbye to their mother in unison, picking up their bags from the butler at the door and climbed into their private car, joking about how they'll torment Tamaki that day.

I'll talk to Hikaru tonight so we'll have the weekend to sort things out.

Hikaru lays a comforting hand on his shoulder and fusses that he looks tired and that maybe he should take a nap during Lit. class, and he would have made some sort of dry retort about Hikaru's awful Lit. grades if he wasn't distracted by the sudden movement of being pulled to his brother's chest and manhandled over to Hikaru's other side, as anything else he was about to say was lost in a discord of splintering glass and twisting metal as his senses abandoned him.

What happened? Everything hurts… Hikaru… Hikaru…

-oOo-

"HIKA—OW!!" Kaoru was struck by a searing pain in his neck and felt himself being urged back down, blinking dazedly at the nurses hovering over him.

"Hitachiin-san! Please calm down, you're injured!"

"I—? How—? What happened to my brother? Where's Hikaru!?"

"Hitachiin-san please! You've been in an accident!"

"An acci—? Oh god, please, I have to see Hikaru! Where—!?" Instead of the gentle pressing that he had been fighting thus far, he found himself firmly pushed down on to his back by a formidable figure.

"Calm down."

"Mo-Mori-senpai?" Hani quickly appeared over Mori's shoulder.

"Kao-chan! You've gotta settle down or you might hurt yourself!"

"But the accident—! Hikaru—!"

"Kaoru," Kyouya materialized behind the two nurses, who quickly backed out of his way. "You have two options at this point: You can either calm down, so we can inform you of the situation, or I can have the nurses bring a heavy sedative and you can speculate for yourself for a few hours." He adjusted his glasses briefly. "I have full confidence in that you'd prefer the former, but the decision is ultimately yours."

Kaoru grimaced, but quieted considerably.

"Good," Kyouya relaxed slightly, and closed his eyes to mentally call up all the facts. "Now as you know, you've been in an accident. The other vehicle was owned by an upper-class salary man, he was sleep deprived and was on his cell phone at the time. I'm sure you can put it together. The car impacted the side of the vehicle," Mori tightened his grip. "Hikaru took the brunt of the impact."

Kaoru jerked violently against Mori's hold, but he settled a bit when he felt Hani's hand on his urgingly.

"However seeing as the EMTs found him practically wrapped around you, I'm guessing it was his intention…" Kyouya opened his eyes to see Kaoru silently begging for him to just get on with it. He sighed and opened his notebook.

"Hikaru is suffering from moderate to severe traumatic brain injury which called for surgery to repair some minor contusions in the area of the temporal lobe. The surgery was a success but his intracranial pressure readings were abnormally high, so a ventriculostomy was also performed. The surgeon has informed me that physically he will most likely recover without permanent complications, but seeing as he has yet to wake up we are unaware of any cognitive impairment. He is in the intensive care unit at the moment …Ah, and he also has a broken arm."

"Umm… Kyou-chan…" Kyouya looked up at Hani, who was raising his hand like a student in school. "Can you maybe give Kao-chan the simplified version?"

Sure enough, when he looked back at Kaoru, he was squinting confusedly, but nodding as if he had absorbed even half of the words that had just come from Kyouya's mouth.

Kyouya sighed, but berated himself. Kaoru was just in an accident, of course he would be a little dazed.

"Hikaru injured his head very badly, yes?" Kaoru nodded slowly. "They needed to perform surgery to fix it." He grimaced a little but still nodded. "It worked, but because of swelling, they had to put in a tube to drain some fluid to relieve some pressure." The grimace worsened, but he still nodded. "He's still unconscious, but out of danger, though we still don't know if there will be any effects mentally. And I assume you got the broken arm part."

Kaoru seemed to deflate at the news that his brother was okay at the very least, having completely exhausted himself from panic.

"And since it probably never even crossed your mind to ask, you have a pretty nasty concussion and probably some mild whiplash, but assuming no severe complications you should be out by the end of the week at the vary latest."

"Oh… right, that's good to hear." Kaoru said, a bit embarrassed, but obviously still worrying about Hikaru.

"There's no need to worry about your brother Kaoru, this is one of my family's hospitals, and anything less then perfection will not be tolerated, I assure you."

Kaoru started to laugh, but stopped when pain jolted through is neck. "…Th-thank you, senpai."

There was a brief moment of silence as the injured boy looked around the room.

"Come to think of it, where are Haruhi and milord?"

"They're with your mother in the ICU. Would you object to me informing her that you're awake?"

"Oh, sure that's fine." He felt a little guilty. This was supposed to be her vacation.

"Alright, but in the mean time I'm afraid you'll need to cooperate with the nurses, understood?" Kaoru didn't miss the threatening undertone.

"Right."

He had just finished swallowing a painkiller for the ache in his neck when his mother barreled recklessly through the door, throwing herself on his lap.

"KAORU! MY BABY!! I'VE BEEN SO WORRIED!! I WAS SO HAPPY WHEN YOU TWO HAD FINALLY MADE UP, BUT THEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS—!!"

After shaking off his surprise, he tried to rub her back soothingly until her hysterics subsided. When she finally did sit up and look at him he almost gaped. Her make-up was an utter mess (with streaks of eyeliner on her cheeks and blotches of eye shadow smudged all around) and her hair and clothes completely disheveled (though not in the tastefully precise way he was used to).

He almost had trouble believing that this was the same lively but nonetheless composed woman that had been such a fleeting figure in his life. She looked eerily like a worried sick mother whose two precious children had just escaped death.

It was comforting in a way he couldn't quite understand.

"I'm sorry Kaoru… I just don't know what to do with myself… How do you feel?" She said after a while, still sniffling a bit.

"I've been better…" He said dismissively before taking on a grave tone. "How's Hikaru?"

His mother gripped his hand and stared into her lap. "He's still asleep… but they said probably soon!"

Kaoru forced a smile. "…I see."

After visiting for a while and assuring his mother at least ten times that he was not going to die suddenly if she left his side, she returned to the ICU with Hani and Mori.

The rest of the day seemed to pass in a blur. Haruhi and Tamaki came in to visit shortly after the others left and stayed with him while they took X-rays and MRIs to assure that there was no spinal cord or yet unnoticed brain damage. Between Tamaki's dramatic flare and Haruhi's straight-man attitude he found himself in slightly brighter spirits, but Kyouya noticed that he was getting tired and eventually sent them back to the ICU.

By the time the doctor arrived to inform them of the results, Kaoru had fallen asleep to the arrhythmic scratching of pen on paper.

-oOo-

Kaoru awoke to a similar arrhythmic sound as he had fallen asleep to, but tapping instead of scratching this time. He had to mentally restrain himself from trying turning his head to look towards the source of the sound.

"Kyouya? Has Hikaru—?"

The tapping paused for a moment. "Supposedly he's briefly opened his eyes a few times, but has yet to regain full consciousness."

"Oh… What time is it?"

"About 6 o'clock AM." Kaoru watched out of the corner of his eye as Kyouya set aside his laptop and stood up, walking over to Kaoru's bedside to push a button. A nurse knocked and entered shortly thereafter, busying herself by setting out some painkillers and water for him, as well as changing the bandage around his head that until this point he was unaware he had. Finally, after removing the contraption they had put on him that kept him from turning his head, she left with a polite bow and shut the door.

"The doctor came a while after you fell asleep," Kyouya started, causing Kaoru to flinch a little. He had forgotten he was there from all the nurse's fussing. "He said that they found no signs of detrimental damage in the scans, and that you are free to move around as you must. However, it would be best if you would rest as much as possible until you are discharged in two days. It would also be advisable for you to not turn your head excessively, because judging from the way you've been flinching, you probably do have some whiplash."

"Yeah, up and down seem alright, but whenever I try to turn my head it hurts like hell."

"Take the pills, they'll help."

"I didn't even notice the bandage, either."

"We'll seeing as you had a grade 5 concussion, I would be surprised if you didn't need some form of bandage." Kyouya said sarcastically.

Kaoru was about to crack some kind of joke when the door slammed open.

"MOMMY!! DID YOU GET ANY SLE—Oh! Good Morning Kaoru! Are you feeling any better today?"

Kaoru flinched twice, once out of surprise and the other from the shooting pain he got when he turned his head by reflex.

"For god's sake Tamaki, this is a hospital, would you control your yourself?" Kyouya bit darkly.

"S-sorry Mommy! Hospitals always make me kind of edgy…" Tamaki started sheepishly, but quickly turned back to Kaoru. "So Kaoru! How are you feeling?"

"Fine I guess, my neck is killing me though… Has Hikaru—?"

The blond deflated at the older twin's name.

"They're saying it's just a matter of time, really…"

"…I see."

Tamaki rubbed at his neck awkwardly, but seemed to suddenly remember something and glanced around the room. Upon spotting Kyouya glaring irritably at his computer, he promptly relieved him of it. "Ah Kyouya! Come to think of it I need to speak with you private—EEP!"

Kyouya had stood suddenly, leveling a particularly blood-thirsty stare at the Host Club's King.

Throwing all self-preservation instincts to the wind, he quickly ushered Kyouya out of the room before any blood was shed (at least in front of Kaoru).

Recalling his sempai's instructions, Kaoru obediently swallowed the aforementioned pills and laid back to rest.

The Low Blood Pressure Evil Lord is fearsome as always.

-oOo-

"Tamaki, if you don't return my computer right now—"

"I know, I know, mysterious tragedies, inexplicable misfortune, gruesome death, etc., etc." The blond replied dismissively, returning the computer but persisting in leading Kyouya to some undisclosed location.

"Tamaki, where are you taking me?"

"To sleep."

"What?"

"Sleep." Tamaki repeated blandly. "Don't even pretend that you didn't pull an all-nighter Kyouya. I knew you would regardless of whether or not anyone else was there, so I had the rest of us take turns resting, but now that the other's can watch Kaoru, you need sleep! Heck I probably fell asleep more than anyone else and I'm still tired! Oh! Do you want some company Kyouya? Could I sleep with you?"

The nurse that just happened to be passing by that second shot them a suspicious look, but, in the fashion of a true professional, made no comment.

"Tamaki, don't phrase things so ambiguously, please."

"Ambiguously? What do you mean?"

"Nevermind. I know better than to try arguing with you, but two hours maximum. I have an analysis that needs to be done by next—"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure. Now sleep!"

Without warning Tamaki pushed him into one of the plusher, more private, rooms of the hospital and shut the door firmly in his face.

Note to Self: Kill Tamaki at next convenient opportunity.

-oOo-

AN: Yes, ladies and gentlemen (or maybe just ladies), I have created a sequal to my abomination, Games, at xoxoxlovestinksxoxox's request. I decided to actually do author's notes this time around so I can apologize profusely for being such a slow-as-hell writer, since I'm posting as I go this time around.

This will be another (pseudo)psychologically based one, but I'll leave how a secret for now. You can consider this an apology for how horrificly abrupt the ending to Games was. (Maybe I've been reading too much Neal Stephenson. / )

As a forewarning, I have no idea where this is going, but let's hope it's interesting, eh? Also beware of sporadic updates, possibly months, I really can't be sure at this point. This is also unbeta-ed so please excuse my fail writing skills.

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! (Even though I made the twins get into a car accident. I still haven't forgiven myself for that, but it's necessary. And no one's going to die ...I think. D: )