Disclaimer: Do not own Hojo or FF7. Only own one OC here.
Cause and Effect
Part 1 - Cause
He Was a Kid Too
Hojo had always been the target of bullies for one reason or another. Because he was smaller and scrawnier than others or because he irritated them with his higher level of intelligence or just because he was just plain irritating – he would be beaten up every other day and teased and taunted. He hated everyone around him – including his unhelpful parents. He never bothered trying to make friends with anyone and just stayed in his little dark corner, reading chapter books at the age of eight.
It did not mean that he didn't feel lonely. Back then, he simply had a hard time understanding people and their odd, frivolous reactions to anything and everything.
In the end, it was serendipitous that Hojo had made one friend who bothered trying to understand him.
Haruhi, her name was. She was one of the taller girls in his class, but she was usually so docile and friendly to everyone. Just another girl who he went to school with whose name he had memorized for convenience more than anything else. He disliked her, because she practically towered over him (and over half of the class), but it was because of that height and her sudden change in attitude that saved him from further bullying.
Of course, there were still taunts every now and again…mainly about Haruhi being Hojo's girlfriend.
Blech. As if!
However, he would be remiss if he didn't thank her for her constant help, companionship and understanding, especially since she remained by his side all the way into adulthood. During the fifth grade she had told him she would protect him no matter what, because they were friends, silly and sentimental and oh, so girly as the idea was.
He quietly returned her sentiments with some rock sugar he had grown himself in science class, mumbling something about asking her if she wanted to be his friend forever (or something close to that).
- = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = -
The Land of Dreams
Midgar, the Land of Dreams. A city created by the manufactory company, Shinra Inc. It was a place that promised all your desires and greatest wishes.
It was also where Hojo and his family were going to move to and he was none too happy about it. Sure, they could start anew there, but his parents did not have any job security over there as they did in Wutai and unless you're a construction worker, income and work would be scarce for them. And sure, there would be a smaller chance of being bullied by people he hated, but the new environment would be strange and foreign to him. There were also the customs and traditions they would have to learn and adapt to on the Eastern Continent, which Hojo would be loathe to do.
And the most important thing of all, his best friend would not be there. Haru had had a blank look on her face when Hojo gave her the news and he sorely wished she had lost her temper, yell, scream cry – anything. But she gave no reaction, other than to walk away from him and close the door to her house in his face. He did not blame her and could only imagine what his best friend was doing in her house right now – probably ripping apart her plushies. He wished he could stay, he really did and he wanted to tell Haru he was sorry for leaving her behind, but her lack of reaction had hurt him, too. And he was just a boy, back then. So he ran back home, to fume and hate his best friend, too. However, deep in his heart, he did not want to go.
But here he was, riding in a car with his parents to the new house. They turned around a corner and Hojo chanced a look out the car window and though he saw a familiar figure running down the street. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, but it was gone.
Impossible, he thought angrily. Haru's on the other side of the continent.
They arrived at the house – one of many that all looked entirely the same – the moving vans already there and unloading their possessions. There was also a small crowd of people watching them move in on the other side of the street and Hojo couldn't help, but think that they were mindless peons, just whiling their lives away. The feeling of loss still stung acutely and when he got out with his parents and bombarded with questions from his neighbour, he went to sit on one of the boxes to continue his sulking.
"Guess who!" commanded a young, familiar voice. Hands were covering his eyes and he could feel the tickle of brown hair on his neck. No, it couldn't be. How could it? It defied all logic!
"…H…Haru!"
"Oh, darn! How did you guess?" giggled the girl as she uncovered his eyes and let him see her. She was as he remembered her when he told her his farewell, minus the blank unreadable look on her face. But how was she here? Why? When? What?
Pretty soon, he had an armful of his best friend who he later found out had moved in with her uncle who lived a few houses down.
Land of Dreams, huh? Well, for once, Hojo would believe in such frivolous fairy tales.
- = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = -
He Hadn't Forgotten
High school was unbearably dull and filled with more pressure and bullies than one could shake a cig at. It was also a place where many children their age tried to define themselves in order to be set apart from the rest of the sheep. Upon entering, Hojo had half expected to be left behind in Haru's dust as she soared to popularity (and she would deserve it, he thought, because Haru was very likable), and Haru would be distanced from himself, for the main reason that he would immerse himself in his studies in order to gain a scholarship into the most prestigious medical school Midgar had to offer.
However, Haru stuck by him through thick and thin. Sometimes her closeness would become annoying and he'd snap at her and his increasingly grouchy attitude would garner enough irritation to force the girl to give him a noogie. But they never grew apart. Separately, yes, at their own pace in their own chosen paths, but never apart.
Hojo, who acted calmly and coolly around the masses at school, never quite said it aloud, but he'd always show it to Haru in small, little bouts of affection; only for her he hadn't tested out of high school early. Wouldn't she be lonely without him? Of course she would, for she was a social creature and needed companionship. It wasn't as if he'd really miss her chatter and silliness (and her temper), should he leave this whole high school business behind him.
And it wasn't like he was trying to keep some silly promise he had made as a child or anything…
Creepy ass Hojo having a heart? His reputation as the creepiest nerd would be shot to hell for that!
- = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = -
Her Wish
"Hojo, are you alright?"
It was the day after senior prom and Haru was tired beyond belief. She had stayed up late the other night with her date (and several of her classmates) to watch the sun rise up in the sky and had only managed a few hours of sleep. Today was their first day of freedom from school, before they started their chosen careers in a few months. Well, Hojo, brilliant as he was, would be still continuing his education at a medical university, while Haru went to military academy for training.
That aside, Hojo was at her doorstep at nine AM, drenched from the morning rain, still dressed in his tuxedo from prom. Uh-oh. He was quickly ushered into her house and snuck up into her room before her parents found out – ever since she'd hit puberty her parents forbade her best friend from ever entering her room.
Haru found a towel for him and set to drying his hair as she listened to him talk about the bitch that had only agreed to be his date, because the boy she wanted to be with was with someone else and told him just as much. No, wait. Not just as much. She went the extra mile to tell him that she'd never go with a grease monkey like Hojo under normal circumstances and that he should feel honoured that she had decided to be with him in the first place. Hojo had felt ugly and unwanted; alternately, he also wanted to hurt something.
In short, Hojo was far from alright.
So it was that the two best friends spent the day together ensconced in her room, just hanging out with Haru consoling Hojo by telling him that one day, he'll find someone truly worthy of his affections. A beautiful lady of science with a pretty smile and red heels, she stated. Although Hojo said nothing to these fanciful dreams and wishes that she spun for him, he had a few dreams of his own intertwined with guilt.
His eyes wandered through her room, wondering if she had a pair of red shoes, because the real reason why his date had dumped him was because he whispered Haru's name.
- = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = -
She Didn't Forget Either
The Turks were know for having the most unsavoury reputation in all of Shinra; theirs was only rivalled by the science department who had questionable ethics and morals concerning their specimens and what to do with them. They never mixed unless entirely necessary, like, say, the lead scientists on an expedition to the Northern Crater required muscle and the Turks were it. Considering it was such a dangerous place, all the lead scientists would be assigned one Turk each and Hojo was already bristling at the thought of some muscle-bound Neanderthal constantly breathing down his neck as he worked. He had only been working for Shinra's science department for a little under two years now, but he had never heard of anything good about the Turks.
How pleasantly surprised he was to see Haru walking into his office, wearing the infamous dark blue suit.
Well, more like flabbergasted, because the other day he was sure he had seen her at Shinra Military Academy throwing unsuspecting young men across the room during an interschool karate tournament. Hadn't she wanted to join the army at some point? Then how…?
"Good morning, sir. I'll be your bodyguard from now on. My name is Haruhi Tenno, a pleasure, sir," she said smoothly, as if her joining the Turks hadn't been the most bizarre thing ever. Her face was blank as most Turks' tend to be, but when he met her gaze, she gave him a playful little wink and his body seemed to relax in relief. He hadn't realized he had been so tense.
"…You planned this, didn't you?" Hojo asked, turning back to his work with a half weary, half amused chuckle.
"When I said I'd protect you, I meant it."
He chuckled again, as Haru took up a position in the corner of his little office where she could get a clear view of him and all exits. As he looked over his work, he couldn't help muttering, fondly, "Silly sentimental girl."
- = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = -
Professor Gast
He really hated Gast. Not only for the reason that the man was charismatic and successful and not a frail looking man of pitiable looks. And not just for the fact that Gast did he get the role of being Doctor Valentine's chosen successor, but also because he got the girl. More specifically, his girl. Not that either of them had been in love (Hojo might have been and now he would never really know), but Hojo felt a profound feeling of loss and betrayal when Haru had fallen for the older man and, eventually, agreed to marry him.
While the happy couple made eyes at each other during their engagement, Hojo had taken to skulking shadows and corners and avoiding them at all costs. It was, of course, a lot harder to avoid Haru since she was his bodyguard, so Hojo gave her the silent treatment as he angrily scratched away at lab reports at his desk or doing an experiment in the labs. Hen the day finally came, he had not been present at the wedding.
Which pissed Haru off like nothing else. Hojo, in his assurance of Haru's friendship and protection, had long been not the center of his best friend's temper (that dubious honour usually belonged to anyone trying to hurt him) so when she stormed into his office, demanding what the fuck was wrong with him, he was actually quite stunned. Her wedding night, apparently, had been ruined seven times in a row, due to her bad mood. And it was all Hojo's fault. She had been worried about him, pissed off at him and all kinds of emotional during her honeymoon that she couldn't properly enjoy it. And she demanded why he was acting like such an ass.
Fearing for his life, he admitted that he just hated Gast.
Haru gave him a good long look after he said this, brown eyes narrowed dangerously at him.
But then, she'd snort and just smack him in the arm.
"You're my best friend…you're supposed to hate him, idiot."
- = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = -
It's Rather Unwieldy, Isn't It?
Haru was an expert at swordplay. Although all members of the Turks were equipped with guns, it never hurt to have an alternate ready and waiting. Plus, those with specialties were given an extra bonus. Still, the scientist did not see the merit of owning a katana that was taller than his friend by more than a few feet. He was amazed that she could even swing it without falling over.
Unfortunately, after almost chopping Veld's head off a few times, Haru was basically ordered never to use the overly long sword ever again. It disappointed her a great deal, since she had commissioned it from a great sword smith back in Wutai for a good part of her pay for the last few months, but she acquiesced. It was now displayed in her apartment in Midgar, collecting dust to her dismay.
"It shouldn't just be sitting there, doing nothing," Haru grumbled during lunch with Hojo. Ever since they went to their separate departments in Shinra, the two friends barely had time for one another. However, the two always seemed to have lunch off at the same time, so they'd always eat together, unless pressing matters kept them away.
A raging behemoth wouldn't keep them apart for long – figuratively and literally. They were still cleaning up the mess that one loose specimen had made in the laboratories.
"It's your own fault for deciding on a sword longer than you are tall," Hojo stated distractedly, taking a sip of his tea while looking over his reports. Haru sighed dramatically.
"It wasn't as if I couldn't use it!"
"I think Veld would say otherwise."
Haru pouted and Hojo chuckled at her, though he imagined the pout rather than saw it, his eyes still on his papers. He did look up from his work when his friend seemed to suddenly perk up with an idea.
"I know. This will become a family heirloom! I'll pass it onto my son!"
Hojo snorted. So that was her brilliant idea? "And what makes you think any of your offspring will be male?"
"Call it female intuition."
The scientist would have said something derisive here, but Haru looked so dead set on her idea that he didn't have the heart to.
That and she'd probably shoot him for mocking her intuition.
- = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = -
Choices
Hojo continued his hatred of Gast well into his elder years and with good reason. One thing after another, reasons to loathe his rival in the science department had piled up, but it would always come back to one thing. Or rather, one person.
Gast had divorced with Haru after she became barren and for supposedly being unfaithful. It hadn't been fully her fault; Hojo had been careless and extremely foolish in his actions. His bodyguard had been feeling unwell some months after her wedding and being the good friend that he was, offered to look into things for her. Hojo took a blood sample and put her blood work on top of the growing pile of work he needed to do.
He had been the first to know that Haru was pregnant with Gast's child. On a whim, he did not tell Haru, knowing she would experience the symptoms of pregnancy soon enough. Plus, he wanted to one-up Gast by being the first to tell him that his wife was pregnant and he did, never once thinking about the repercussions for his best friend. Blinded as he was, back then, by his hatred, he never saw the events that came.
First was the attack on the scientists during their trek to the Northern Crater from Modeoheim. It had been snowing that day, Gast was ignoring Haru for all he was worth (he felt jealous that she'd tell Hojo and not him, the father, first, even though she had no idea that she was with child) and a group of monsters had surrounded them from out of nowhere. Haru had been the first to jump into action, gun drawn and shooting alongside her partner, Veld. It was the Turks' job to protect the scientists, after all, so the two went all out. Being assigned specifically to Hojo, though, Haru had been compelled to jump in front of him when one monster decided to pounce him.
Haru had been severely injured and they had to go back to the Shinra base at Modeoheim in order to save her.
They couldn't save the baby though. Worse yet, a lot had been torn and sacrificed in order to save the Turk. Haru would never have children again. Gast left her afterwards, which left Haru in a terrible mess. The excavation of the Northern Crater had been postponed and they went back home to Midgar.
All the while, Hojo could not summon the ability to rejoice at the fact that Gast had left Haru – that he had proven that the man was no worthy of the female Turk's affection. It was a bittersweet, meaningless victory and one that would leave its scar on his friend forever.
- = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = -
Just the One
"I think I'd have wanted to have a dozen children," Haru said as she ate her salad. The two of them were having lunch together at a restaurant in Midgar, like they always did during the week. It was the only time Hojo allowed himself out of the labs and Haru was available to spend time with her best friend. It had been a month now, since her divorce with Gast and the scientist could still see the remnants of his friend's sorrow showing through.
Hojo raised a brow at her sudden admission. "With your small body Haru, no matter how fit you are, twelve would surely not be healthy for you," he stated, despite the fact that many women were capable of having at least ten offspring in Wutai. Case in point: Haru, herself, was the youngest of seven sisters.
Haru chuckled and pushed back a stray lock of dark brown hair behind her ear. "I know…I know…right now, I'd be happy to just have the one baby boy…" Her hand slipped down to her abdomen that had just been the home of a small life a month prior and never to be again. "…We were going to name him Sephiroth."
"Oh? I thought you would have insisted on a more traditional Wutai name for your child," Hojo said, ignoring the burning feeling that started to grow inside of him whenever Gast was mentioned. He had always disliked Gast, for all kinds of petty reasons, but with recent events, it had turned into an indescribable loathing. For the sake of Haru, he kept that cold fury on the backburner; best not to upset someone who knew a million ways to kill you, after all.
"I wanted a name to match Faramis'," Haru replied softly. "He seemed to like when I suggested it."
"It's a bit of a fanciful name, though, 'Sephiroth'." Hojo would never name any of his children with such an odd name, if he ever got around to finding hat one special woman to have any with.
Haru chuckled. "Just you wait, Hojo…one day a hero will rise in the world and he'll have a name just like Sephiroth."
"Ah, your intuition again?"
"You know it."
- = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = -
Like A Puppy
Having very few friends to his name, Hojo often found himself talking incessantly about his discoveries to Haru, who would just smile and nod at him, barely understanding half of the things he said. It did not mean she didn't take part in his enthusiasm and was quite happy that he was enjoying his work so much; in turn, Hojo kept her mind off of Gast and their messy divorce, especially in light of the fact that he seemed to have moved on surprisingly quick. Gast had met a woman at Modeoheim by the name of Ifalna, a person whom believed in the old fairytales of the Ancients; mad, he thought, absolutely mad.
However, they had found something incredible inside of the Northern Crater, which could change the world. An actual Ancient – a real Cetra! There was talk of cloning or creating a new Ancient, bringing their race back from extinction and he was truly excited to get started. Grimoire Valentine was soon going to name the head of this project, once he returned from his spelunking near the caves in the mountains of Nibelheim.
"Imagine that! Breathing life into what was once lost!"
"Yes, that does sound interesting."
"…You could fake enthusiasm better, Haru."
"I think you're enthusiastic enough for the both of us, Hojo."
- = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = -
Like an Old Married Couple
There were days when Hojo and Haru would argue over anything she'd deem too dangerous; it would never be about morals or ethics, because that would be a perfect case of the pot calling the kettle black considering Haru's own profession. However, the Turk would never be the one to take things too far, just one step too late or one step behind. Hojo would open his mouth and say something awful – about her sterility, her failed marriage, anything that would get a rise out of his childhood friend – and then immediately regret it.
She'd stare at him with a horrified look on her face each time (her sensitivity never seemed to dull no matter how long she had worked with the Turks or how many times he'd hurt her) and he would soon realize what he'd said to her. And before he could even think of apologizing – every time – her hand would come up to slap him across the face.
And she'd be crying then and run off, while Hojo rubbed the ache in his cheek, trying to hate her for what she did while feeling sorry for what he'd done. Later on, when it became imperative that the Turk had to come back in order to do her job and keep an eye on him, they'd stay together in the lab in awkward silence.
And he'd never tell her he was outright sorry, but Hojo would always make it up to her in his actions. Just little things here and there to let her know he hadn't meant what he said, never meant what he said and that, despite her lack of scientific ability, he still wanted to be friends. The acts were frivolous and silly, but they were often appreciated by his bodyguard. Little by little, she'd warm up to him again; when she totally forgave him his transgressions she'd find him, give him a quick, ghost of a hug, then disappear back into the shadows.
And then they'd start the process all over again. Haru only did it out of concern; after all, Grimoire Valentine had died just recently.
- = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = -
The End of All Hope
"Haru…Haru, come on, speak to me."
This was the end. This was it.
It had been an ordinary, normal day in Nibelheim. They had relocated some time ago in order to work and research the Jenova Project in peace. Only a select, privileged few would be working on it and Hojo had been chosen. Predictably, he was assigned Haru as his bodyguard, as Hojo's reputation began to grow to unlikable proportions. He had stepped on the toes of many scientists also under the employ of Shinra, clawing his way to where he was now, in his prime, in order to gain position and prestige. He would not be looked over again. Newcomers like Hollander were mere stepping stones to Hojo, which, of course, garnered much hatred towards his person.
Poor Haru had never been so busy trying to intercept assassination attempts against the good doctor.
Poor Haru had been the time to bite the proverbial bullet for Hojo.
Perhaps, Hojo mused, the poison had been meant for the entire group of scientists working in Shinra Mansion, which made Haru's death all the worse. A random, unintentional death? Unacceptable.
But there it was; she was dying in his arms, slowly fading away. Her death was clean, if anything, but that did little to console Hojo. His best friend in the whole world was dying. Haru was dying and he could do nothing to save her. There were no anti-poison remedies available in the lab and the nearest hospital was in Gongaga and hey only had the bare necessities. The local physician would also be quite useless against poisoning.
Her hand touched his cheek; her eternal affection was wordless and awful. Even so close to death, her thoughts were on him. He held that hand there, body shaking with strangled sobs.
"Haru…"
And, just like that, she faded, returning to the Planet.
- = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = - - = Hojo = -
The Beginning of the Nightmare
There had been no funeral. Turks did not have the privilege of having markers for their graves nor had many to mourn their loss. However, it did not mean that Hojo had done nothing for his friend. While it was no grand send-off, as was traditional for their people, he did cremate her body and spread the ashes over the Nibel Mountains. It was the best he could do.
The same day he had spread her ashes a new scientist would be arriving at Shinra Mansion, alongside a new Turk to take Haru's place. As if he could, Hojo snarled in his mind. No one could replace Haru, he was sure. No one. No one would keep an eye on him while he worked late into the night and sometimes straight to morning the way she did. No more would he be able to chatter incessantly over everything and nothing with someone who understood him more than they understood his words.
No more would Hojo have a friend as true as her, who would get angry at him, be overly protective, care for him and just want to be with him, because she could.
Gast – oh, how he truly loathed him, because he had been scarce when his ex-wife was dying in her best friend's arms – came up to him, smiling and grinning as if Hojo hadn't just have a private funeral, to introduce him to their newest arrival. Lu-something or other. He heard the telltale sounds of heels clicking on the wooden floor and staring at said floor, he noticed a pair of feet set in red shoes. Eyes moving upwards from there, up a pair of long legs and trim, young body to a smiling, pretty face, he was struck by how out of place the new researcher was. She was young, vibrant and…beautiful.
That pretty face of hers was sympathetic and pitying as she addressed him. "I'm sorry for your loss," she said, sounding shy. "I heard that the Turk who died recently was a friend of yours. My condolences."
Still a little shocked – and now more so with her kind words – Hojo could only nod, as he hugged the urn that once carried Haru's ashes.
"I look forward to working with you. My name is Lucrecia Crescent."
He mumbled something random in return, which sparked a delicate laugh from the woman. Its sound was soothing and Hojo eventually found, that her laughter and smiles would be his – and the world's – eventual undoing.