Disclaimer: Still not mine ;)

Haruhi tread soundlessly down the hallway, through the cavernous dining room and turned right into the visitor’s quarters. The moon had begun its ascent and hung full and brilliant in the middle of the inky sky. Haruhi watched as it formed a checkered pattern of light before her feet and outlined the long shadow of a figure standing in the corridor half-obscured by darkness. Haruhi paused; all around her the room rang with silence. She inclined her head forward to observe the shadow. It twitched, crossing its arms, the blurred shape melding with the pillar he leaned against. That shadow was waiting for her. The corner of Haruhi’s lips tugged upward in a vague smile as she continued on toward her bedroom.

“Good evening, Hikaru”.

At first there was nothing and then, “How do you do it?” he asked with some awe.

Haruhi paused, her hand resting on the polished silver doorknob. Her smile grew slightly. “Dunno,” she said at last, “just do.”

She heard him move in the darkness, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

“All our lives,” Hikaru began slowly, “we’ve been waiting for someone to tell us apart.” He took a step forward, his face bathed in moonshine, “You can do it in the dark.”

His voice was smooth, but Haruhi could feel the tension rising in it, as if he were trying to talk his way out of a less-than-advantageous situation; she’d heard that voice before many times.

“I thought you two were in the rec room?” she questioned lightly.

The shadow shrugged; “Got boring,” he said matter-of-factly, “Kaoru went to bed half an hour ago.”

Haruhi turned and was startled to find that he had quickly closed the distance between them and was now standing mere inches away. She gasped softly and took a step backward. Hikaru placed a hand against the wall on either side of her head and cocked his chin downward to look at her. In the paleness of the moon, Haruhi saw the flash of mischief that streaked across his amber eyes and heard the impish smirk in his reply.

“Some games,” he hissed in a low voice, “are more fun with only two players.”

Hikaru arched his body forward, his elbows propped against the cool tile of the wall so that the tip of his nose touched hers. Haruhi could feel his breath on her lips, warm and damp. Her pulse quickened and for a moment her ears will filled with the sound of her own heart pounding.

“How do you do it?” Hikaru repeated softly. His eyelids drooped as he shifted his head, his nose sliding past hers as he drew nearer.

“Thinking of going solo?” Haruhi asked bluntly.

Hikaru paused, his body rigid. He blinked as if woken from a dream and looked up to find her eyes. She held his gaze a moment before he took a sudden step back, crossing his arms casually in front of his body.

“Not bad” she chuckled as she pushed herself away from the wall, “what’s Karou’s newest shtick?”

Hikaru smirked devilishly, “Where would the fun be if I told you?”

Haruhi arched an eyebrow and covered a yawn. She turned to open the bedroom door as she wished him goodnight: “It’s been a long day, what with being kidnapped and all.”

Hikaru laughed, entwining his fingers tightly behind his back, “Get your rest while you can” he winked before turning to make his way down the hall.

Haruhi remained in the doorway, her back to his retreating form; “Try being yourself…” she said softly and closed the door behind her.

Hikaru, standing alone in the darkened hallway, released a long, slow breath: “That doesn’t work either.”

A/N: Wow, short, short, short. This is more-or-less where I wanted this particular encounter to go. Hikaru has kind of been done in the anime--the date-- so 1) I don't want to stomp all over that, because I am using as my premise that the 26 episodes of the anime have occurred in the lives of the characters, and 2) becaus it's been done, there's not a whole lot I can say at this point. Well, aside from writing a completely different fic about only the relationship between Haruhi and Hikaru, and I'm not really that kinda shipper so, not going to happen. I also thought about adding some schmaltzy 'Haruhi questions Hikaru about never being real with her', etc., but opted instead for the cut-off ending I so fancy. With the time I spent to set the scene at the beach house, I had to decide if I wanted to have everything take place at the beach house, so I'm going to do that for now. But who knows, I might do it differently later ;) I also apologize for the several, silly typos in the previous chapter-- too much cold medication.

Thank you to my two lovely reviewers :) Keep 'em coming.

P.S. Don't expect me to update this quickly all the time. I've been sick, and there's only so much 'watching of soap operas' a girl can take before she has to write some fic. I'll be back at work tomorrow (I think) so it could be a bit until chapter 3 comes out, which yes, I've already begun. Would you like to see a spoiler? ;)