And if I'm flying solo,
At least I'm flying free.
To those who'd ground me,
Take a message back from me.
Tell them how I am
Defying Gravity.
- Wicked: The Musical "Defying Gravity"
Haru closed the door to her bathroom and locked it behind her. Walking over to her bathroom mirror, she stopped cold, staring at the image looking back at her. Two trails of dried tear stains went down both cheeks. She took in a deep breath and turned away from her reflection, slowly making her way toward her bedside table. Her dull gaze glanced up at the alarm clock sitting atop it. The time read three A.M.
Haru sighed regrettably. Pulling on the drawer by the handle, the woman reached inside and grabbed a pair of sharp cutting scissors. She firmly shoved the drawer shut behind her and quietly made her way back into the bathroom, taking a moment to stop fully in front of her mirror. The woman's eyes glowered hollowly at her mirrored image. She raised the scissors determinedly up to her hair.
The first thing Haru did was cut her wavy tresses.
The brokenhearted woman laid her front tearfully against the counter of her sink and threw her face into the crook of her arm, shaking violently.
The second thing she did was cry into her arms.
Haru woke up to the blaring sound of knocking on her door. Blinking, she blearily peeked through her dark lashes. They gradually opened, before she finally stared confusedly around herself. After a moment, the woman's gaze sharpened with a sudden clarity. She paused visibly. Haru noticed with a light humor that she was sprawled out on the bathroom floor with her head laid haphazardly against the bathroom cabinets. God, she felt so sore.
The furious knocking quickly continued.
"Haru? Haru!" came the frantic screaming of her mother, as she banged feverishly on the door. An edge of panic entered her voice, and she jiggled hurriedly on the knob, "Haru you didn't hurt yourself, did you? Oh god, I knew that I shouldn't have went home last night. Haru!"
Her daughter let out a thin chuckle and painfully moved herself into a sitting position. Her legs felt heavy and as dull as lead. She swallowed thickly, her throat suddenly feeling terribly icky. It scratched at her vocal chords, and she swallowed again, quickly clearing out her throat. She winced when sound came out as a low and pained noise, before she was eventually able to ease her mother's fears.
"I'm fine Mom," she croaked sorely with a slight sneer, "Not dead yet."
*A breathy sound of relief met her ears; one that had Haru feeling very appreciative toward her mother. Even though she did not have Hiromi anymore, it was comforting to know that she would always have her mother for support, no matter what, and she would most likely be needing a lot of support. Sure, the woman was moderately strong – strong-willed, at least – but it was nice to have someone that she could count on one-hundred percent on her side. Someone who loved her unconditionally and was willing to wait for anything in order to defend her in her corner.
Haru tried to push herself up, but fumbled with the strength in her legs. She pushed up on the ground beneath her, as her gaze trailed down onto the floor, and she became still. The rushing pain of upchuck filled her throat. Hair was practically everywhere. Real hair; her hair. It was sickening. The sight of it was as clear to her as the faint betrayal that she continuously felt in her heart.
Oh my god, the brunette thought her cry, as she became physically sick.
She hurriedly forced down the sudden urge inside of her to hurl.
Haru knew those brown tresses far too well. The brunette's stomach turned into knots, and she continued to struggle to pick herself up. God, so much of her hair was on the ground. She seriously felt like she needed to hurl.
Eerily, she managed, "M-Mom, I think I did something."
"Haru?" her mother immediately questioned through the door, "Haru, what did you do? Haru?"
Haru listened, as her mother commenced to wiggle at the door handle. A pained smile tilted on the edges of her lips, as her legs shuffled uselessly. She sighed tiredly, wearily placing a cool hand over her throat. Within herself, the gullet felt torn and rough. The sensation was a sure indication of her pained state and sorrow.
Haru instantly felt a surge of anger run through her. No! There would be no more crying on her part. The woman's hand shook slightly, as she placed it back down beside her. She steadied herself and quietly harrumphed at her situation. A final resolve abruptly came to her. Determinedly, she put both of her hands on the sink behind her and pushed forward, gradually scooting herself along the ground toward the bathroom door.
Pathetic, but at least it's working, the brunette thought sardonically.
She let out a loud grunt, and her mother's brow rose at the sound.
Confusedly, Naoko lilted, "Haru, just what in the hell are you doing in there? Unlock this door, please."
After a long moment of audible struggling, Haru finally made it over to the door and reached up to grab the handle. A sucked in breath of air sounded throughout the room. The absurdity of the entire situation had her fuming at the top of her lungs. The poor woman came up short of the offending object by only a few, mere inches. A strangled cry left her lips.
"Can't you hear me trying?" Haru frustratingly cried. The woman placed a shaking hand over her stomach. Though she had only just promised herself to not cry, it was definitely hard not to weep when it seemed like life was hell bent on working against her. Angrily, she screamed, as the urge to sob almost broke her. The brunette's other hand reached fruitlessly in a vain attempt to turn the knob. She yelled, "It's difficult to do anything, especially when your legs aren't working right from sleeping on them all night!"
Haru's mother took in her sudden closeness and waited patiently. She crossed her arms silently behind her, and her dark eyes traveled down the bottom of the doorway. A small chuckle escaped her. She stared amusedly toward the grey shadow which moved wildly through the crack below the door. A faint smile graced her features.
Patiently, Naoko watched, as her daughter thrashed in her struggle to open the door. The brunette smirked when Haru released a proud exclamation, finally managing to unlock the blasted contraption. The expression was instantly exchanged into a look of pure shock.
"Haru you're hair! It's so short!"
Haru stared dejectedly up at her mother. She sighed despairingly, "I know. Feel free to bask in its glory."
The hazel-eyed woman regarded her mother, as the older Yoshioka took a muted, yet awed step closer to her. She paused visibly. After a lengthy second, the cautious redhead gingerly reached out to finger at Haru's cropped mane. The tips of her digits grasped dubiously at a few cropped strands, and she stared widely, a comically stunned expression appearing in her dark eyes. A soft sigh escaped her.
"Haru, why did you do this? You loved your hair. Now it's only… what, an inch in length?"
"I know, I know," Haru mumbled. She stretched a tired hand out for her mother to grasp, "I messed up royally. Could you please just help me up off the ground?"
Naoko stared regrettably at the chopped locks lying beneath them, but dutifully took the offered appendage. She strengthened her stance and fought to lift her daughter from the harsh bathroom floor. A breathy snort left her.
"Is it just me or have you gotten heavier?" Naoko grunted her joke, although it was more of an actual statement than a quip, "Gosh Haru, what have you been eating lately? Rocks?"
Sarcasm practically dripped from Haru's lips, "Yeah, I'm eating rocks. Rocky Road, that is. Butt loads of Rocky Road."
The brunette paused, but added, "By the way, thanks for buying me the tub earlier."
"No problem," her mother grunted, as she gradually managed to drag her daughter onto her feet, "You're still my baby, after all. Well, maybe a bigger baby, but that's for another day. Are you alright?"
Haru blinked and rested a hand over her small belly. It poked out slightly from her previous emotional food binge. She smiled faintly, now feeling much better than how she had been on the floor.
"Actually, I feel-"
A rush of bile rose up into her throat.
"-bad! Gotta puke, gotta puke!"
Naoko watched with a raised brow, as her daughter hurried over to her toilet and stooped over the bowl with her hands poised on both sides. They tightened, and Haru began to throw up an ugly mixture of acid and brown ice cream. Her mother crossed the small room and put a gentle hand to her back. She rubbed soft circles into her daughter's back, as the younger woman emptied out all of what was left of the contents inside her stomach.
"That's it; let it all out. You'll feel better in a bit," her mother carefully soothed. She stared in mild wonder, as Haru continued to puke out her guts, "Oh, wow you certainly ate a lot last night."
Haru shook from the pressure on her upper half, but jibed, "Maybe you ate a lot last night."
The reply sounded drunk and annoyed, but Naoko idly patted Haru's back.
"No, I didn't," she replied good-humoredly, "Nice comeback though."
Haru wiped exhaustedly at her mouth and humorlessly flushed the toilet. She stood up, leaning haphazardly against her mother for support, and asked, "Can you help me into the living room?"
Naoko smiled comfortingly toward her daughter and pulled her in close, already steadying Haru's footing. She leaned her head understandingly over her daughter's forehead and just held her for a long moment. A content breath leisurely left her.
"Of course," her mother whispered pleasurably, "Although, I think that it would be smart if we got you cleaned up first. Okay?"
Haru nodded weakly, "Yeah. That would probably be best."
Haru sat exhaustedly in the living room, looking around herself with a muted sickness in her gut. A lone tear settled in the edge of her left eye. Her hands tightened, then became lame. She sighed sadly, as her mind traveled back onto the memory of her altercation with Machida the previous night. It still upset the woman; everything about her ex's infidelity. Especially how he had went about telling her.
"Who the hell does that?" Haru furiously cried from her seat on the couch.
The pissed off brunette reached over to pick up a comfy couch pillow and threw it over her face, pressing it harshly into her skin. She screamed indelicately into the fabric, a huffy sniff leaving her.
Hatefully, she muttered, "Stupid Machida. Stupid Hiromi."
A gleam of hurt shone in her eyes. The woman's fragile heart broke once more at the thought of her old friends. Her used-to-be friends. Her ex friends… The two of them had single-handedly damaged her trust in people, taking her heart and crushing it into a million, tiny little pieces. She could practically feel it shattering hollowly within her chest.
Haru closed her eyes. She let out a soft whimper and drew in her legs up to her chest, letting out a low breath. She laid her head forlornly atop the arm of her couch and stared blankly at the wooden, short-legged coffee table in front of her. She tapped distractedly on the couch's fabric, her gaze saddening further. A shuttering sigh emitted from her lips.
Both Machida's and Hiromi's treachery had wounded her deeply.
"What assholes," she muttered beneath her breath, as she gazed with a piercing melancholy in her eyes.
The clinking noise of Haru's mother making tea in the kitchen could be heard from over the ever-thickening silence surrounding the brunette, and Haru frowned perceptively. A sharp intake of air was given by the young woman, as her fingers continued to tap religiously at the couch. She panicked. The movement in her fingers became more rapid when she caught the cheerful, offhanded hums that carried into the room, as Naoko carefully poured a cup of warm water for her daughter. She could only imagining the wonderful substance steaming silently.
The calm feeling around her; it was not peaceful in the slightest.
Haru stopped her insistent fidgeting to grasp tautly at the couch with her digits digging haphazardly into the fabric. A shudder wracked through her when she realized that she felt irrevocably lost within the weighted quietness. It was deafening. The weight was immovable. She sullenly noted that there came no happy chattering from Hiromi, and that there was no adorable grumbling from Machida. Those glorious sounds would never again greet her ears.
Only a dense, unimaginable stillness.
At that exact same moment, a dark headed man sat behind his laptop. A deep sarcasm was rooted within his dark orbs, as he typed furiously against his keyboard. His thin fingers moved with a practiced quickness, clicking on the keys like lightning. Raspy, breathy laughter erupted through his lips. A beautiful work of art sat before him; he truly believed.
The man guffawed at something that he typed. A small, grinning smirk formed along his angular jaw, and he squared his shoulders. Just as he was about to begin a new paragraph, there came a sudden tap on his shoulder. The male glanced curiously over his shoulder to stare up at the enormous person who was standing exasperatedly behind him.
The well-known person moved his meaty hands and tiredly asked, "Is that dumb thing you're doing up yet?"
The gruff voice made the darker haired man let out a frustrated groan, and he turned in his seat to face his much larger friend. He raised his arms away from his laptop in order to quickly move his hands, and his limbs stirred furiously. His mouth remained still, as he signed, his lips turning into a reedy frown.
"Well, I would be if you would let me do it, you fatso," he signaled hotly, "Besides, I'm almost done."
The raven haired male threw his slender hands back onto his laptop. He placed the grey contraption into his lap and continued to type. A harrumph came from the meaty, thick-skinned man. He stood above the thinner man's shoulder and crossed his arms around his big belly, curiously scrutinizing the screen. His brown eyes narrowed in concentration, as he read the webpage that the smaller gentleman was currently working on. He quickly tapped the skinny man's shoulder again.
The raven haired man took in a sharp breath and snapped his neck to stare at dangerously at his friend.
"What?" his hands rapidly flustered, and his jaw clenched, "What is it?"
The bigger man stared for a long moment, until he finally shook his head, and carefully moved his hands in the direction of his friend.
Wearily, he said, "You know Baron isn't going to like this at all, right?"
His friend merely shrugged and offhandedly signed, "Well, obviously he would never allow us to help him-"
He paused, before ultimately gesturing, "Besides, once it's done, it's done. Baron will thank us later."
"Yeah, after he mutilates us," the massive gentleman sighed, "Okay, whatever. Fine. But we will keep this as a secret for now, okay birdbrain? Completely hush-hush, capiche? Baron is not to know or-"
The man lovingly, or not so lovingly, called 'birdbrain' merely grinned and gestured with his fingers. He gave his friend a big and extremely sure expression, before turning back to his computer.
"I've got this, tubby. Trust me."
With a few more clicks on the keys of his laptop, the man put a hand on his mousepad and expertly uploaded whatever it was that he was working up onto the internet. He looked up, giving his friend a sarcastic beam. His next words came out in a cheeky flourish.
"Now it's your turn."
Naoko stood awkwardly in the doorway of Haru's apartment with one hand poised on her purse, the other on the doorknob. She gazed concernedly down at Haru, who sat contentedly on her couch with her legs crossed beneath her bum, gently nursing her third cup of tea for the evening. The woman sighed worriedly.
Haru took another sip of her beverage. The tea was delicious and homey, as her mother's tea always seemed to taste the same every time that the woman drank it. The sameness was incredibly comforting, and the feeling of it had the brunette sighing softly into the cushions of her couch. She smiled up at her mother, as the redhead reached up to bring in the strap of her purse closer to her side.
"Are you sure that you'll be alright, Haru?" the fretting mother asked delicately, "Because you know that I can stay for the rest of the night if you really feel like you need me to stay-"
"I'm good," Haru rapidly cut through her mother's suggestion with her legs crossed airily below her. She smiled slightly from her place on the couch, "Seriously Mom, I'll be fine. No more crying. No more short hair scares. You're completely free to go."
Haru gestured her hand towards the door and lipped a small smirk. Her mother let out an unsure noise of protest. Immediately, Haru felt herself frown slightly.
Naoko mumbled, "I'm just not sure-"
Haru rolled her dark eyes and playfully yelled, "Mom, go! Honestly, it's like trying to get rid of a puppy."
Her mother merely stared mutely into the depths of her daughter's gaze, before she finally let out a heavy sigh and nodded subconsciously. She felt a miniscule, upward turn in the corners of her lips.
"If you say so," the redhead eventually muttered. Her words came out slow and unconvinced, "But only because you say that you're okay."
Naoko fumbled with the inside of her purse, before pulling out a fluffy set of car keys. They clinked clumsily in her grasp, and she gave Haru a long stare. The younger woman could only stare on with a raised brow.
Haru could tell that her mother was trying to buy all of the time that she had left with her precious daughter. Not that the concern was not appreciated… but it was certainly not warranted. She gave her mother an amused expression.
"You missing something?" Haru airily asked.
Her mother swallowed and slowly muttered, "You do know that I would stay if you needed me, right?"
The brunette guffawed indelicately.
"I know mother. Now, goodnight!"
"Touchy, touchy," Naoko placed a somewhat mocking hand over her heart, "Kicking me out so soon? How you wound me."
Haru chuckled and jokingly shooed her mother from her comfy spot. She easily threatened, "You know how I puked earlier into that toilet earlier? Don't make me puke on you, too!"
The hazel-eyed woman giggled, as her mother screwed up her nose at the thought.
"Fair point. Okay, I'm gone just," Naoko paused and looked her daughter square in the eyes, "Just please don't use the scissors anymore… I'd hate to come back here to find that more things other than your hair was cut. For example, your wrists or your arms-"
"Mom I'm sad, not suicidal. Besides, I've had a few hours to be able to take in my new look, and I'm actually starting to think that it fits me. The cut is short and spunky. I'm short and spunky. My hair is new and edgy. I'm old, but hey, I still look pretty damn edgy-"
Naoko laughed and shook her head.
"Also, the normal look for a woman's hair is becoming shorter and shorter nowadays… Believe it or not, I actually think it's kind of cute."
Her mother simply shrugged her shoulders, but gazed at her daughter good-naturedly.
"Whatever you say Haru. Well, I guess it's time I go. I've prolonged my stay long enough, because obviously you're trying to kick me out right now… so bye, hun. Call me if you need anything!"
As her mother waved and opened the door, Haru quipped, "Got it. Love you!"
"You too, baby girl!" Naoko called, as she gently closed the door behind her.
A sudden silence surrounded Haru. The woman in question only paused, staring mutely in front of herself, before she quickly downed the rest of her tea. She leaned forward to place the empty cup onto the glass saucer that sat before her on the coffee table, before she hurriedly reached for the throw pillow that laid beside her. Her hands grasped around the soft cushion, and she lifted the offending object, throwing the piece of fabric tightly against her face. She shrieked piercingly into its cottony fibers.
Haru suddenly dropped the pillow and took in a series of measured, bottomless breaths. She breathed in and out, continuously. Her hands moved to fiddle tirelessly in her lap. They inched to do something, and her brain cried out for anything interesting enough to fully capture her attention. The woman needed a distraction, but the question was, what.
Instantly, a thought struck Haru. The adult hurriedly hopped out of her seat and ran into her bedroom in order to speedily grab her laptop from atop her bedsheets. A large smile graced her plain features. Gripping onto the moderately sized contraption, the brown-haired woman trotted back into the living room and opened up her tiny desktop, opening her web browser. A blank screen stared back at her.
Now came a very important conundrum for the young brunette. What does one look up when they are a loose cannon with no boyfriend, no job, and nothing to lose?
The woman sat in silence, until she threw an elated hand up into the air.
"Kittens!" the woman inexplicably enthused.
Haru blinked wildly and began to rapidly type her search into Google. Under her breath, she muttered, "Yep, I just have to look up kittens. I need to, because cats make everything better. Yeah. Of course."
As she stared complacently at the many cat pictures on her screen, the woman suddenly let out a substantial breath, and her shoulders fell a bit in her stupid search for kitten enthused happiness. It all seemed utterly nonsensical and useless. Still, she wanted that small bit of weightlessness, and this was a hell lot safer than turning to alcoholism.
Haru groaned and moved her mouse back up to click on her search bar. She tiredly began to type a few words into the long white line.
Uselessly, she grumbled, "Maybe I should just look up that sneezing panda on YouTube again."
Oh my goodness, this chapter is finally done. Hallelujah! What do you think of the new story summary? While writing this chapter I suffered from a major case of writer syndrome, and I have been very busy lately between family business, first year of college stuff, and seeing a taping of Family Feud... Yeah, the last one is pretty out there, lol. Anyways, I hope that you guys are ready for fluff because I am! Seriously, you have no idea how much it kills me to have to go so slow, as I don't usually write such long stories, but I will try my absolute best to make sure this story as good and sweet as possible in order to keep all of you guys interested! But for everyone, this is INDEED a HaruxBaron story, so don't worry my friends! Our favorite creation (although a human in this story) will be coming up very soon! Until then, please stay tuned and willing to put up with my problems, because let's face it. I have a lot of problems. xD
Also, I apologize in advance for my terribly sarcastic and probably horrible sense of humor.
Till next time, xoxo.
