Chapter Nine

~ A Little Too Much ~

"Sorrow is what I hate, but it's grown my sensations. Regret taught me how to make any hard decisions. Peace is always by my side, but I've never felt it once. Love is not a word reserved only for sweet romance~"

Slip Out ~ Beck (Mongolian Chop Squad)

.Beep.

The smell of disinfectants assaulted her nose, and the loud beep of the heart monitored irritated her ears. The pain had been numbed by the drugs; she didn't dare open her eyes as they would ache at the bright light penetrating through the windows. It had happened so fast. She had seen people beat up in movies and read it in books; it all seemed so much longer than what she had experienced. She was aware of the warm hand that held her own. She knew who it was and hoped beyond all hope that it wasn't who she knew it was. She opened her eyes just a sliver, prepared for blinding brightness which surprisingly wasn't as bad as she had thought, brave enough to open her eyes all the way she looked down at her father's head lying on the bed, asleep. She missed him, but still felt the faint betrayal.

"He's been there the whole time" a voice said quietly from the corner of the room, she glanced at Taki, boyfriend and long-time lover of her dear father.

She couldn't deny that he was gorgeous, long dark hair and a strong jaw, and eyes that gleamed with a brilliant green. They had only ever met a few times and he was nice but he still stole her father away and for that she couldn't forgive him.

"Has he?" she asked, "have you been here the whole time to?" she asked, feeling that maybe it was worth the effort to try and forgive and forget. "Yes, I was quite worried about you too, you know" he said, brushing imaginary fluff from his dark professional suit pants.

"I'm sure" Shika felt the blush heat her bruised face and for the moment she was glad for the hideous black and blue that adorned her face.

"There was a boy here to see you, though he was escorted off the premises. He went into such a violent rage, caused a lot of damage to very expensive property" he said nonchalantly, he hadn't seen someone so enrage. He looked furious, like he could kill the people who had done it. He felt the same, Shika meant so much to her father, Yuzaki. He hadn't been able to comfort him at all, he felt slightly guilty he couldn't do anything at all.

"What did he look like?" Shika asked, breaking him from his thoughts. "Look like? He had this strange hair, black and white, quiet unusual I must say"

That didn't sound like Haru at all, damage to expensive property. Shika yanked off the heart monitor chords and pulled the drip out, she had to see if he was alright. He was probably angry because she hadn't turned up to meet him at school.

The flat lining of the heart machine altered nurses and doctors, the rushed around the room, her father had been shocked awake but she had already left. Things were just starting to get going, she couldn't let things be like this, she had to explain.

"Where is she?" she heard the voices echo down the stair well, she felt her insides ache with pain and her lungs struggle to keep up with her fast pace.

Hatsuharu sat down outside the hospital, they wouldn't let him inside. He had to know if she was alright.

He felt the rush of air before she saw her running off across the road in her hospital gown, uncaring of the fact the back of her gown exposed her naked body from the back. He felt a spurt of anger at the angry bruises he could see spanning over her ribs and down her legs.

"Shika!" he shouted, running after her. She stopped and turned around, despite the fear she had in the back of her mind as the warning message lingered 'stay away', she knew she couldn't. It was impossible to stay away from him.

"Haru" she said as he got close and enveloped her in a warm embrace. "Are you mad?" she whispered into his shoulder, feeling safe.

"Mad? Why would I be mad at you?" he whispered into her hair, "I'm mad at the bastards, who did this to you, I could never be mad at you."

She felt he tears prick her eyes and before she could stop it they were falling fast and hard. "Don't cry" he said rubbing her back, still lost in her warmth.

"Why don't we start again? I'm Hatsuharu and I want to date you, Shika, will you do me the honour of becoming my girlfriend?" he smiled into her hair.

"I'm Shika and I would love to be your girlfriend, if you're sure you want me" she fought the urge to cough; all the running had made her lungs feel raw.

"I want you" he knew they had gone through this yesterday but today was different, it was out in the open, it had been said.

Her knees buckled from exhaustion, Haru held her close before picking her up and walking back in the direction of the hospital.

"You really should've have ran so much, you could've hurt yourself more" he said quietly, deciding to walk the stairs to the third floor.

He walked down to her room and laid her on the bed, the room was empty and quiet. She smiled through the haze of fatigue.

"Hey, why do you like me anyway?" she asked lying back into the comfort of the pillows temporarily closing her eyes.

"There's just something about you" he said, planting a tender kiss on her forehead. "I have to go before I get caught, get some rest, I'll sneak in soon"

She was asleep before he had even left the room; he smiled one last time before heading off to the main house. He would come back soon, he decided, when he could stay there without getting tossed out.

They watched Hatsuharu walk from the hospital, snug inside the confines of a large black car.

"It's sickening, isn't it? How she could still be so ignorant of my warnings, maybe it wasn't enough, do you think?" he asked his passenger.

"You're too harsh Akito, things will sort themselves out. If you play with fire you'll get burnt as they say" the man said.

"I hate her" he said with so much venom in his voice, "I'll kill her." Akito stated through gritted teeth.

Wow, well, chapter nine is here. Enjoy, and thankyou to everyone who altered/favourited and reviewed, you know who you are :P don't forget to give some feedback!