Hi guys. No, I did not abandon this story. Unfortunately, I experienced another death and I have been... a mess. Then there's the first anniversary of my beloved's death on the 17th... ha... needless to say, not in the best head space.
But I finally got myself to write this. I feel better. Sorry if it's a bit lackluster than the last few chapters. Like I said, haven't been in the best head space.
Severe depression + unexpected deaths really just take a toll on you. Especially with so many within one year... I can't count on both hands how many people have passed away around me since November 2017. Again, writing this story is kind of my way of dealing with my own grief.
Oh! I changed the rating from T to M because I began writing tidbits of later chapters and the language got... more adult than I had intended OOPS
I hope you all enjoy this chapter :)
The sun shone brightly through the window, waking the raven-haired boy on the couch. Seiya stirred, a bit irritated by the rude awakening by the sun. Seiya attempted to pull the blanket up over his eyes but was surprised to find that a blanket was nowhere within reach. It was then Seiya realized where he was and he sat up quickly, looking around at Haruka's living room groggily.
"About time you woke up," came a familiar deep voice. Seiya looked in the direction of the voice and saw a very tired Haruka sitting at her kitchen table. She motioned for him to come and join her.
Seiya could see remnants of the gifts that were on the table last night. It looked like Haruka was using one of them. A tea set he had never seen before was on her table and Haruka was drinking from one of the cups.
"Setsuna and Hotaru-chan left two hours ago. We tried waking you up but you just continued to snore," Haruka ended her sentence with a slight chuckle which left Seiya feeling more at ease. He had been worried the night before how Haruka would act after witnessing her uncle's passing seeing as she had been inconsolable last night.
"Do you want some tea?" Haruka asked as she put down her own cup. Seiya nodded and his eyes followed Haruka into her kitchen.
"Setsuna bought me this new tea set for my birthday. I thought I might as well put it into use this morning," Haruka explained as she began to pour Seiya a cup of tea. Seiya made no acknowledgment of this statement as he began to wrack his brain in search of what to say but all he wanted to do was to ask her how she was doing. Sighing as Haruka made her way back to the table, he figured he would just go ahead and ask.
"Haruka-san, are you okay?" Seiya asked as Haruka placed his cup of tea in front of him. "Last night… seeing you cry like that… we were just so worried."
Haruka sighed as she sat back down. She closed her eyes as she leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and her chin on her intertwined hands. She opened her eyes and looked over at Seiya, giving him a small smile.
"I'll be alright," Haruka reassured him. "I was not close to my uncle. In fact, I have not spoken to him nor seen him in five years. It was just happening to be at his side when he flat-lined made me relive the day Michiru died all over again."
Seiya nodded in understanding. He had seen Haruka just hours after Michiru had passed. She was in a daze and tears had been pouring down her face. They had not known Michiru had passed before they arrived, but seeing the look on Haruka and Setsuna's face when they arrived told them all they needed to know in that moment. It was then that Seiya had registered about her uncle.
"You hadn't seen him or spoken to him in five years?" Seiya repeated his eyes widening in surprise. Haruka only nodded.
"How come, if you don't mind me asking?" Seiya prodded knowing he was most likely overstepping a boundary. Haruka shook her head but did not make eye contact with the Starlight, keeping her eyes facing forward.
"He tried to kill me."
Seiya jumped at the response. "What?!"
Haruka nodded sat back in her chair. She looked over at Seiya, who noticed that now she appeared to be more tired than before.
"My uncle was not a good man. He was actually jealous of my father. He always told my dad he had it easy because my dad could afford to do things like take us on vacations and buy new cars in full, not realizing or caring really that my dad worked hard to get to where he was. My uncle had chosen a life of hard drugs and blaming others for his failure to thrive in life. When I was thirteen we had gone to visit my dad's mom and he was there. At some point, he and my dad had gotten into an argument. Luckily, I was nearby because I saw my uncle lunge at my dad with a crowbar. I was able to tackle my uncle to the ground and the crowbar went flying out of his hand, but he then got a strong grip on me and held a knife to my throat, threatening to slice my throat in front of my dad," Seiya's eyes widened as he listened to the story. "He even started to… I remember the knife cutting my neck and feeling the blood begin to flow out. I had stiffened in fright and I just remember my dad yelling, then there was more yelling and the next thing I know my uncle is being forcefully pulled away from me and I just fall to the ground and I'm crying. My dad picks me up and it just becomes a blur after that, but obviously the cut wasn't life threatening. There's not even a scar."
"Haruka-san…" Seiya wanted to say something, but he felt himself at a total loss for words.
"Two years later, I'm at my aunt's wedding reception and he's there. I avoid him and refuse to speak with him, and no one blames me. Everyone knew what he had done. At some point though, my uncle then ends up cornering me and begins to yell at me about how he does not remember ever holding a knife to my throat and I shouldn't hold it against him," Haruka rolled her eyes at the memory. Seiya not help but scoff upon hearing this. "I was not scared of him; I was just full of anger. I told him it didn't matter if he didn't remember ever doing that to me, the fact of the matter was that Iremembered and I did not and would not forgive him. He ended up running to my mom crying to her about how I was being mean to him and left the reception after that."
Haruka began to laugh and Seiya joined in. He felt his admiration for Haruka begin to form as he listened to her story.
"Your mom mentioned last night that he was in an accident," Seiya brought up making Haruka look at him curiously. "But she had paused a bit before she said accident. I'm starting to feel as though that is not what really happened."
Haruka gave him a small smile and shook her head. "No, it wasn't an accident. He hung himself."
"What?!" Seiya gasped.
"Yeah, he was actually in jail when it happened. They had him in solitary confinement because my uncle was proving himself to be a dangerous man. My guess is that he sobered up, realized how much of an ass he had been and couldn't live with the guilt. Apparently that had found him after he had been without oxygen for ten minutes, he was basically already gone at that point but they decided to call an ambulance anyway."
Haruka took a sip of her tea. Seiya stared at her in amazement. Here Haruka was, talking about her uncle's death as if she was casually talking about another day at the track. This had not what he had expected after last night. She was truly stronger than even he had known.
"If you see my mom again though," Haruka said bringing Seiya out of his thoughts. "Don't mention that I told you. My mom really wants to keep it hush-hush, which is part of the reason I didn't tell you what was going on when we spoke the other night."
Seiya nodded. "I understand. I promise I won't say anything."
"Thanks," Haruka said with a smile. "The only other people who know the truth are Setsuna and Hotaru-chan, obviously. The others can know my uncle died, but I don't want them to know the truth. At least, not yet." Haruka looked over at Seiya then laughed a bit. "Funny, I never thought I would find myself confiding in you, Kou Seiya, of all people."
Seiya laughed as well. "Honestly, I never thought we would ever be able to be in the same room without fighting."
Haruka took his hand into hers and gave it a squeeze. Seiya was surprised by the sudden interaction and looked at the golden blonde haired senshi curiously.
"Thanks for being here for me," Haruka said softly. "Honestly, last night, I was trying to tell you to leave so you wouldn't be stuck looking after me."
Seiya raised his eyebrow. "I didn't get that you were trying to tell me to leave."
Haruka laughed. "Yeah, Setsuna and Hotaru-chan didn't get that I was trying to tell you that either. I mean, I don't blame any of you because instead of speaking I just lunged myself at you because at that moment that seemed like the logical way of letting you know."
Seiya could help but laugh along with the older girl.
"Aw, Haruka-san. And here I was thinking you just wanted me to hold you," Seiya teased causing the older girl to blush.
"Shut up," Haruka said rolling her eyes at the younger boy.
The stayed that way for a while longer. Talking and playfully bickering with one another until Taiki called Seiya on his cell phone reminding the Three Lights member of their photoshoot later that day that they had to start getting ready to leave to.
"Don't worry," Haruka said after Seiya told her what the call was about. "I should go be with my family right now anyway. Despite the circumstances, he was family. My dad is taking it hard and honestly, my heart hurts more for him not being able to reconcile with his brother than it does over my uncle's death."
"That makes sense," was Seiya's simple response. He turned and face Haruka. "Please call me if you need anything. I may not be able to come right away, but I will try to be here for you as much as I can be."
Haruka smiled. "Don't worry about it, Seiya. I have Setsuna and Hotaru-chan, I'll be alright."
With that, the raven-haired Starlight left her apartment. Haruka turned and looked over at the remaining gift she had not opened yet – the one her mom had left with her last night. She had known it would be something she would want to open alone and she was happy when Setsuna and Hotaru had been understanding when she said she did not want to open it in front of an audience.
Haruka's hand slid over the wrapping paper. It was simple – a white background with colorful polka dots all around it. She could appreciate how joyful the wrapping paper was. She could tell it was a framed photo, she could tell that much. Taking a deep breath, Haruka began to unwrap it. It took everything in Haruka not to begin sobbing once she saw the photo.
It was a picture of her and Michiru from the first time Haruka had brought her to meet her parents. They had fallen asleep on the couch together while they had been watching some old comedy with her parents. Haruka lay on top of MIchiru, whom in turn had her arms wrapped tightly around Haruka. They were young, only fourteen at the time but her parents never questioned their relationship. Haruka remembered how after that meeting, her mother had pulled her aside and told her how she felt Michiru was the perfect match for her.
"I miss the feeling of having your arms around me, Michiru," Haruka said as she gently stroked Michiru's face through the frame, still fighting the tears that threatened to fall.
Haruka's reminiscing was suddenly interrupted as Haruka suddenly felt the need to cough. At first the coughs were just dry coughs that made her wheeze a bit but they soon began to come more violent. Haruka felt like daggers were being plunged into her chest, she began to make her way into her bathroom, unable to stop her coughs and the pain that came along with her. Soon her coughs began to have a wet sound and Haruka grabbed a piece of tissue, feeling some type of laugh begin to come out. Haruka's eyes widened with horror when the coughing finally subsided and she saw what she had coughed up.
Blood, Haruka thought to herself, unable to believe what she was seeing. Masaka… could it be…
Shaking her head, she decided to have herself secretly checked out by a doctor after visiting and being with her family.
Michiru had not coughed up blood before falling sick, so there was no way this could be related… right?
