My Safe Haven
"This is ridiculous."
Kaoru slowly looked away from the table where everyone was sitting and stared at his brother who was drowning in stress.
Kyouya glanced around the whole table before looking back down at his computer, which he had pulled up many tabs concerning his force's investigation.
Haruhi and Mokoto had been taken to the safe house three days ago. Neither Hikaru or Kaoru slept very well. For Kaoru it was mostly the help from his medication that he got any sleep at all, though Hikaru purposely had been taking sleeping pills just so he could get his eyes closed.
It had taken a toll on everyone. Kyouya had been considering putting all the girls in a safe house just so they wouldn't have to worry about anyone else turning up missing. With Haruhi's capturers nowhere to be found, it wasn't safe for anyone. And even in the safe house, they couldn't be sure they would even be safe there.
It was as Kaoru said.
No one was safe anywhere.
What kind of life do you have when you can even be sure you're safe in your own home?
Laying his elbows on the table, Hikaru leaned over, resting his forehead on his palms. Being too tired to even hold his own head up.
"How..." he groaned, "how did they even know where she worked in the first place? Who told them where Kaoru's apartment was? How do these people even know so much about everyone?"
"That's another question that we have no answer to right now." Kyouya replied, irritated that he couldn't answer anything logically.
"Finding Haruhi's firm couldn't be that hard. She's surrounded by millionaires. Her whole adult life has been filled with cameras and publicity. There's paparazzi's around every corner. The Hitachiin's have been the center for most of it since the beginning."
"I get that," Hikaru whined, pressing his fingertips to his temple. "but why? No one knows why these people even wanted Haruhi. Mokoto was just a distraction. They wanted Haruhi and I want to know why."
Kaoru leaned against the back rest of his chair, laying his hand over his injured side.
"They used Mokoto so we would worry about something else other than, Haruhi. But why Mokoto?" He asked. "Is it something against the whole Hitachiin family? Because it could have been anyone. Honestly, the whole country would have made a bigger fuss and forgotten all about Haruhi if they had kidnapped, Tamaki."
Tamaki gave Kaoru a strange look. "I'd hate to say this right now, but maybe it's because Haruhi and Mokoto are... commoners."
Hikaru, despite his headache, found the energy to glare. "Is that necessary?"
"No, look... Haruhi and Mokoto, even if they're apart of the luxury, they're still middle class, and do middle class things. They both work middle class jobs, in middle class areas. None of us were taken because kidnapping them is so much easier."
Kyouya adjusted his glasses. "Tamaki's right."
"They choose not to have daily security. It's a nuisance," Hikaru grumbled, staring a hole through the table. "but that still doesn't answer our question. Just because they were able to take them because of how easy it is, that doesn't mean they had to. They didn't have to take anyone."
"And I don't think they have anything personal against the family," he added. "if they did, they would have tried to get rid of all of us. They had the opportunity to kill all four of us. Hibiki had a gun to the both of us in the room. He made it sound like he wasn't allowed to kill me, but he was all for shooint Haruhi, with no second thought either."
"I don't understand then," Huni pouted, resting his chin on his pillowed arms. "If they didn't care about Haru-chan, why would they take her in the first place?"
Tamaki glowered in thought. "Maybe he did what they wanted with her earlier and no longer needed her?"
Mori shook his head. Just as much in the dark as everyone. "No... Katsu shot Kaoru because he was mad we were taking Haruhi away."
"Katsu shot Kaoru thinking he was me." Hikaru corrected him.
Tamaki groaned, hiding his face in his hands. "But Hibiki didn't want to hurt you, so why would Katsu want to shoot you? Didn't you say Hibiki was making it a game? He spun the barrel of the gun, not knowing where the bullet was. Even he wasn't sure which one of you he was going to hit."
"Hibiki knew damn well which socket the bullet was in. He did it all for a reaction. He wanted me to watch him kill Haruhi but he also wanted it to be entertaining. He's mental. He knew he wasn't allowed to kill me, for whatever reason that is. It was all for game."
The tall blond sighed. "But Katsu, whoever that guy is in all this, he... he shot Kaoru, so... what does that mean? He can kill Kaoru but he can't kill you?"
"Kaoru was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Katsu was aiming for me. He was looking at me the whole time."
"So that's our new question then," Kyouya muttered, peering above his laptop screen. "This isn't about Haruhi, Mokoto, or the Hitachiin family in general. It's about, Hikaru."
Hikaru gave him a childish scowl. "But I didn't do anything. Why would they take Haruhi if they had a problem with me?"
"Maybe..." Kaoru spoke more to himself rather than anyone else. "maybe it was about, Hikaru. Maybe they took Haruhi to get to you emotionally."
"Why hurt me emotionally when they could've have done it physically?"
"Maybe they figured they be hurting you more by taking Haruhi away?" Kaoru suggested. "You ruined your own life when they took Haruhi. Maybe they just wanted you to suffer. They didn't want you dead."
"Okay... but... Why? What have I done to them that would make them want me to suffer? How would they know to take Haruhi? How they hell did they get this sort of information?"
The room was silent once that question was felt hanging in the air. Everyone thought to themselves, asking and answering their own questions before saying anything out loud. The only thing they heard was the light tapping Kyouya was making from the keys of his computer.
Kaoru clutched his cellphone in his hand inside his pocket. He wanted to text Mokoto, but he had decided against it. He had told her he'd contact her, but he knew that wasn't a good idea to do so, so often.
Whoever took her away from him obviously was capable of doing so, so much more. Maybe hiring a professional hacker to hack into the phone lien, enabling them to find the location where they were hiding.
At this point, he didn't care if she was upset with him over something so little. He just wanted her to be safe.
He didn't know what he'd do with himself if she got hurt, and even now, thinking back on when he had gotten hit.
Was he really in the wrong place at the wrong time? Maybe he was in the perfect place at just the right time. If it wasn't him, it wouldn't have been someone else.
The fact that it was him and no one else is what made him feel just a little better about the whole thing.
"Look at this," Kyouya suddenly ordered, turning his laptop to Hikaru. "It's an old interview."
"Of?" Hikaru muttered, frowning as he pulled the screen closer. "What's it about?"
"You." Kyouya said plainly. "It's three years old. Considering the date the reporter has on it, I'm guessing it was a pointless interview during the week of yours and Haruhi's first wedding anniversary."
Hikaru sighed, resting his cheek on his fist as he scrolled down the screen, skimming through the words carelessly. "I barely even remember this interview. There was so much during those times. Three years ago we launched our latest business themed clothes line."
"They documented your words. Keep reading."
Hikaru read on, not thinking too much of anything. His eyes hurriedly moved over line after line. Some questions he was asked about the clothes line, thought he wasn't interested until the reporter asked him about, Haruhi."
'"Most of our inspiration comes from our girls," he smirked' it read, '"They're both so professional. We just thought of what they'd look cuter in when going to work."'
'"You're both newly married," the reporter asked. "after being bachelors and having so much free time going to being married for almost a year... are your schedules more packed? Having more responsibility and less time to concentrate on work?"'
'"It makes work more fun," he answered. "Ours schedules don't get crammed mostly cause there's two of us, and our parents so there isn't ever too much work for one person."'
'"Most people with your kind of busy career say it's a real strain on a marriage." The reporter questioned. "It's been a year now. Would you say it's been difficult? How do you keep your life so stable?"
He hesitated before speaking again. "...My wife is what keeps everything between us and our work, stable. There's no strain between us and my job. She's the most important person in my life, and most likely always will be. If there ever is a strain I'd choose her over everything."
Hikaru stopped reading, as nothing else on Haruhi was mentioning and shot Kyouya a look of pure and utter confusion. "Okay.. And? What does this have to do with anything? Did I piss the reporter off? Is she the boss of their whole organization then? I don't get it."
"Apparently yours and Haruhi's marriage is a real inspiration, because this interview and many others are rather popular." Kyouya said, pulling his computer back. "What I'm guessing is that someone has something against you personally, you in particular I mean, and to get to you, they took Haruhi. Which would explain the reason why they took her, but didn't care if they killed her off or not."
"Is that what we're concluded?" Huni muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. "Hika-chan did something to someone, they got angry, and to get back at him."
"They took Haruhi, but even after a year, and knowing that we were getting closer to finding her," Tamaki said. "they took Moko-chan so we'd get distracted. And they decided later on killing Hika-chan but failed and shot Kao-chan instead."
"But..." he furrowed his brow. "Why go through all the trouble when they could have... gotten to Hikaru directly?"
"Katsu was the only one out of them who wanted me dead. No one else did." Hikaru said. "Haruhi said he claimed that he was in love with her. I tried to take her back and he didn't like it so he tried to kill me right then and there, figuring if he couldn't have her no one else could. But... he must have thought Kaoru was me."
"I guess we found our next question then.." Tamaki figured. "'What the hell did you do to make them so angry?'"
Hikaru didn't say anything.
"Mr. Hitachiin, I don't think this is a place for you. He's under quarantine now, and we have it all under control."
Hikaru stared into the blank eyes of the officer he stood in front of, but what he said meant nothing to him.
"I don't care," he muttered, signaling him out of his way. "I have something to say to him."
The guard officer gave an uneasy breath as he pulled out the keys on his waist. "My boss isn't going to like it."
"Just open the door."
"Can I be sure no funny business will go on?"
Hikaru shrugged, glaring as the officer let him pass. "Believe me. Everything I could possibly dream of doing to him is nothing of amusing."
"Fair enough."
The metal slid door to the interrogation room clinked loudly. The thick chain lock slammed against the metal, making his shoulders cringe. The officer lead him through it, down the narrow hallway that was lined with thick one-way mirrors. Their heavy footsteps echoed eerily but they ignored it.
It had been another day, another sleepless night, another seat of uneaten meals, and another handful of Ambien for him, and he didn't want to be nice anymore. He didn't want unanswered questions swimming around on his head. He had been eating Ibuprofen like candy, and from all the over-the-counter medication he had gotten himself sick.
He barely felt human as is, on top of the stress, caused by not knowing what as going to happen the next day, or the next hour, or what could happen after taking another breath. He didn't know who these people were, what they could do, or who they would do it to next.
He couldn't protect his family. He couldn't ever be sure they wouldn't get hurt again. At least not until they find who started this, and stop them.
The officer sent him a look that told him to be careful, but Hikaru ignored it. He wasn't paying attention anything but what was in front of him as he stepped through another door that was opened for him.
It was the main interrogation room, and his eyes instantly fell on Hibiki, who sat handcuffed in a chair. His shaggy dark hair shadowed his eyelids, but his cocky smirk was in plain sight.
"Look who decided to pay a visit."
Hikaru struggled with himself to keep his hands in his pockets. "Not much ass kicking you can do in that chair, huh?"
Hibiki leaned against the uncomfortable chair and sighed. "What did you come here to pick a fight with me for? What is that going to prove to you?"
"I wish I could get them to give you the death penalty just for you opening your mouth," Hikaru whispered venom. "I want you to tell me everything you know. I already want your blood raw on my hands, don't you dear try to lie to me."
The man chuckled darkly, his hands cuffed behind his back. "If I'm not going to tell anything to a man in a uniform, what makes you think I'll say anything to you?"
"I was hoping we'd be able to cut out the middle man."
"I'm not a rat, Hitachiin. I was hoping you'd have figured that out." Hibiki
"As much as I want every single one of you dead, if you tell me who paid you to do it, I'll see what I can do to reduce your sentence," Hikaru urged, clenching his hands tight against the fabric in his shirt, "Scratch that, you deserve everything that's coming to you. Just answer me truthfully and I'll think about not beating you to a bloody pulp right now."
"You talk awfully high," he glared, leaning forward, "for a man with nothing behind him. You think just because you're mad you can do all this damage. You're a fashion designer with nothing behind you. You let Katsu get the best of you, you let your brother shot, and Haruhi..."
Hikaru felt his blood boil as his shadowed smirk grew larger.
"...You let them take her away right from under your nose."
"You were in on it too. Just because you're in custody doesn't mean you're innocent." He slammed his hands on the table, easing closer to Hibiki's face. "You were just as much involved in it as anyone else you know is, if not more. I'm sick and tired of constantly being mocked. Who do you work for?"
"Who said we worked for anyone?"
"Don't tell me with a group as large as yours doesn't have anyone you work for. You have connections with the Yakuza. And someone, not even you, has no reason to kidnap innocent woman unless you were paid to do it. Even if it has something to do that's against me."
Hibiki's smirk finally flattened into a frown. and he inched away from Hikaru's aggressive glare. "No one ever said it had anything to do with you. Maybe we just wanted your wife. Katsu's always seemed so taken with her."
"Haruhi's never seen Katsu before in her life before you took her." Hikaru wouldn't give. He leaned closer to him as he leaned further back. "And that's true what did you want Mokoto for?"
"...Who?"
"Don't play dumb with me."
"Oh wait... yes, you're sister-in-law," Hibiki breathed, not taking his eyes off the ginger in front of him. "I told you, she was completely for distraction purposes only."
"You're sickening."
"I never said I kidnapped anyone." He defended, tilting his head, rapping his heel against the cold concrete floor. "I just made sure they stayed gone."
"Then you're just as guilty!"
"And I would have gotten away with it, to, " He muttered sarcastically, "had it not been for you rotten rich people and your damn determination."
"Dammit, stop toying with me!" He clutched the orange collar of Hibiki's shirt. The officer in the corner nearly jumped out of his chair as Hikaru practically ripped Hibiki from his seat.
"Fucking get to the point already, I'm sick of trying to work around your childish attitude." Hikaru cursed, he held his shirt until the officer decided to pull them apart. "Just say who the hell told you to do it."
Hibiki furrowed his brow as he was jerked back into his chair. "What for? You wouldn't know him."
"I don't care if I'd know him. I just need his name."
"No amount of verbal, or physical harassment is going to make me say anything." Hibiki said firmly, now nothing but serious. "No one will say a thing. Getting anything out of anyone associated with me is impossible, just as impossible as it is at finding them."
Hikaru stared at him, anger written all over his face. "You don't know what we're capable of either," Figuring it was now pointless and a waste of his time, he adjusted his jacket and turned around. Though Hibiki's voice didn't come back no later than a few seconds after he was halfway out the door.
"I will say this," He muttered, loud enough that it made Hikaru turn around again. He was nonetheless irritated by his usual cocky smirk.
"He's been under your nose this whole time."
With that, the officer escorted Hikaru out of the room, and he was left with that last thought clawing at his mind.
He didn't know who he meant, but he chose then not to think about it too much. He had other work to do, and he couldn't get distracted.
Under... my nose this whole time...?
Who?
Who and Why?
The two questions he just couldn't find the answer to yet.
In the front seat of his car, he slammed his hand against the steering wheel and rested his face in his hands, rubbing his fingers against his temples to relieve his medication induced headache.
The stress was eating him alive. He hadn't ever wanted to hurt someone so badly before. Never in his life had he thought about doing anything horrible to anyone. Though now, while he sat there, thinking what they could do, he knew somewhere, whoever was responsible for it, was holding the same smug expression Hibiki wore.
While not knowing how to keep everyone safe, some man was determined to make his life a living hell by taking away the only people who actually meant something to him.
And suddenly, thinking of the unknown man's face, his smirk, and his future intentions, Hikaru wanted nothing more than to put a stop to them himself.
The car was silent as he dug into the center console and grabbed his small bottle of Tylenol.
Another day passed, with nothing exciting at all happening. It was late, thought the moon was shadowed behind thick heavy clouds.
Raindrops trailed down the murky windows. It was pure silence outside in the large fields, the breeze was only a slight whistle through the slits in the treetops. Though inside the small, four bedroom farmhouse, the baby had just been put down after screaming bloody murder for an hour.
Haruhi breathed deeply as she stared at the ten month old sleeping. She leaned against the edge of the bassinet and ran her finger raw against his soft cheek. His breathing was light with a thin blanket pulled up to his shoulders.
Nothing at all had been going on for the couple of days she had been there, away from everyone. It was quiet with just her Mokoto , Hiroshi and the guards they were assigned, but the peacefulness was comforting. She would rather have it peaceful and have nothing happening, than have what she had less than a month ago.
She would rather have anything than what she had then. No matter what it was.
If only she could have her old life back. When it was perfect.
Those days though, they were ordinary and was just... life. When she was kidnapped, and was denied to go home, she realized ordinary was perfect, and she never wanted to leave it, ever again.
Haruhi adjusted the buttons of her night shirt (one she had stolen from her husband's drawer) and tightened the strings on her sweatpants (which somehow were also Hikaru's) so they wouldn't fall down and turned to the direction of her temporary bed. To get a few hours of sleep before Hiroshi would wake up again for no particular reason.
Just as she sat on the edge of the bed, she thought she heard a quiet thump on the door. She looked up and didn't hear it again so she grabbed the pillow that was at the foot of the bed and brought it up to the top.
The cold air that swept in from the tiny slits in under the windows touched her bare feet and she threw the blankets over her legs. She contemplated on puling out a book she had brought with her, but decided against it, as her eyelids burned with exhaustion.
There was another slight tap that came from the large window, on he outside, she turned to it. The curtains were closed but through the cracks in the blinds she could only see the tree branches tapping the glass.
Her spine shivered as she heard the floorboards outside in the hall creak, but put her fearful thoughts aside, thinking it was only, Mokoto. Haruhi gave one more concerned glance towards the bassinet before getting comfortable in bed again.
Her fingertips brushed against the beaded string switch to the lamp, intending on turning it off. But there were more tapping and they grew closer to the door. She threw the blankets off again and a electric shock sensation struck her toes as she touched the cold floor.
The room wasn't large, so it didn't take her very long to reach the door. Now the footsteps were distinct, and heavy. Her heart began thumping hard, but as she went to open the door, the knob jiggled under her hand.
She glanced back at Hiroshi, but he reminded asleep. She fidgeted and turned back to the door, but it had opened from the other side.
And before she could even register what it was, strong arms eloped her and she was pulled to wet leather but a warm embrace.
She parted her lips to call out to the officers that were downstairs, but all sound was taken from her as another pair of lips sealed around hers. She whimpered but couldn't pull away even if she tried, as large hands cupped her face, holding her tight.
The balls of her feet left the floor as they lifted her up, but didn't move. Their arm moved behind her back and the other held her head so she couldn't move. Moments later their tongue skillfully tried to sneak past her teeth but she jerked away and stumbled backwards. Saved only by their arms that held her upright.
"Sorry, that was rough." A hushed voice whispered. "...It's been a long day."
Haruhi looked back up, blinking widely at her husband's face that looked back at her. "...Hika?"
Hikaru gave a deep breath, moving his palms from her arms to her hands, lacing their fingers so tight her knuckles ached. He ripped his sunglasses off that he had been wearing, and as they fell to the floor somewhere Haruhi threw her arms around his neck before he could explain himself.
"Don't do that to me," she complained, stuffing her nose into the crook of his neck, hiding her face in the tips of his hair. "It's past midnight, you nearly gave me a heart attack."
"I'm sorry," he pressed his lips against her hair, holding her flush against him and his wet jacket. "I was going to come tomorrow, but... I didn't want to wait that long."
"You didn't want to wait a couple of hours?"
"I wanted to see you."
She tightened her hold on him. "And you decide that when you're supposed to be in bed?"
"I couldn't sleep," he pouted, tangling his fingers in her brown locks, smelling her musky shampoo. "I haven't been able to sleep. I've missed you. I didn't want you to leave."
Her hands slipped over his shoulders, slipping his jacket off for him. It hit the floor and he moved his arms around her waist, gripping her shirt in his hands as her hand fluffed up his bangs that were damp against his forehead.
He cupped her face again, more gently this time and kissed her. His lips kissed her nose, her chin, and down her jaw, stopping only when his cheek brushed against the collar of her shirt that hung around the base of her neck.
"I was... thinking about you, earlier," she managed between their lips, as he kissed her again, over, and over again.
"I haven't stopped thinking about you since the day you left." Hikaru tilted her face, kissing along her cheek. His hot breath grazing her ear. "I want you to come home."
"...I don't have to stay here."
"You're safer here than anywhere else," his fingers tucked under the hem of the baggy shirt she wore. "I don't want you getting hurt."
"You won't let me get hurt."
"Sometimes it's not that easy. I can't protect you like I thought I could."
Haruhi frowned, pressing her face into his chest, against his warm shirt. "I never thought that you couldn't."
Hikaru sighed, running his fingers up and down her back, with only the thin fabric of her shirt shielded her warm skin from his cold hands. "Even after what's happened?"
"You couldn't have done anything about it. I don't blame you for what they did."
"I can't concentrate on anything else," he muttered, feeling her hand on his cheek. "I was hoping after seeing you again I'd sleep better at night knowing that you're okay no matter what. You're more concerned about me than you are for yourself and nothings even happened to me."
"You think too much," her short nails tickled his skin, as she outlined his jaw, running his finger down the front of his chest until his shirt stopped her. "And you're so pale, and look so tired. It's not my fault."
"It's not like I'm still with them," she continued, buttoning his button-up, revealing his undershirt. "You know where I am. You're not an officer, you're my husband. You don't have to try so hard."
He frowned, his bangs falling over his eyes. "It's not that simple."
"You're making it more complicated than it has to be."
"...I just don't want you ever having to go through any of that again. I want get back at them for ever doing it in the first place."
"But you don't have to," her hands continued working on his shirt until it fell from his arms and landed in the same place as his jacket. Leaving him in just a t-shirt. "you don't need revenge. Isn't having everyone safe enough? You can't sleep because you're too worried about what could happen. Who's to say it will anyway?"
He tried to defend his efforts but all works caught dead in his throat as the cold air struck his bare arms, and it wasn't until just then he realized he was no longer as clothed as he was a few minutes ago.
He let out a long breath as he felt her warm digits touch the sensitive spot behind his neck.
"I just want you to be safe," he breathed, not knowing any other way to explain himself. "and you're not."
"But I'm safe with you." She argued, her voice practically a whisper.
He curled a finger beneath her chin, tilting her face up until their lips touched. The space between them didn't last long as his arms came around her again, her chest leveling with his own. He molded his palms to her cheeks, deepening their kiss further, and toying with her lower lip with his teeth.
"I've missed this," she spoke during a break to breathe. "I've missed you so much. And I thought about you all the time-" he continued to kiss her, as though to make up for the times he couldn't. "Even when they told me not to."
"You have no idea how sick I felt the first night," he kissed her harder, pulling her impossibly close. "when you didn't come home, when you wouldn't answer your phone when I called," his trailed another path of tiny kissed down her the side of her neck. "A part of me died when they said you had gotten hurt and wouldn't ever come home."
He stopped everything when he felt something small and warm touch his cheek. He pulled away slightly only when he saw that her tears were falling onto his shoulder.
She clenched his shirt, her face still cradled in his hands. "I thought I wasn't going to see you again, and... you'd never know about Hiroshi. So many people told me so many different things, I don't know what's true or not. I never know that one day I'll just wake up and coming back was all apart of a dream and I'll still be there."
"Katsu wanted to move to Hong Kong," her throat tightened, as he stoked her hair, holding her face against his chest."In two months he would have and he didn't have any intentions on coming back to Japan. He said everything you say but of a completely different meaning, I didn't-"
"You don't have to go back to him. You never have to go anywhere else ever again," Hikaru assured, petting her hair flat. "And as much as I want to hurt everyone involved in this, you're more important. I don't want you to be scared."
Haruhi frowned as she wiped her eye, not liking getting emotional for no reason. "Does that mean... you're leaving?"
He smirked, wiping under her other eyes. "Not with that face."
"Are you coming to bed then?"
"Is that why you undressed me?"
She shrugged, sparing his discarded clothes a glance. "Well if you said no I just figured I could knock you out and tie your hands together with your own belt so you couldn't leave."
He chuckled, pulling her close moving her hands away form his belt. "I think I'd be the real winner in that situation."
"Yeah, you'd probably enjoy it more than you should."
And with that, it didn't take Haruhi to actually get him into bed with her. He and she were already tired from past events that had happen in such a small amount of time that after just laying their entangled, Haruhi had fallen asleep, with her head resting against the crook of his arm, and Hiroshi not making a single noise.
With the feeling of the heat from her body on top of him, and knowing that the next morning he's have to leave, it took Hikaru awhile to fall asleep. He knew he shouldn't have went there. He knew that he should have tried harder against the urge to see them. He could have stuck it out but he couldn't and he didn't want to.
And even if it was late, far later than midnight, when he had finally fallen asleep... that night, was the best sleep he had in the last nineteen months.
