Chapter 37
"I will go to London with you…to see Rufus…"
It had been 2 days since then, when Haine had finally made the decision to go with Noctis and Marco to London. It had taken much courage and effort over the past days to finally decide to confront Rufus about her parentage. After Noctis had explained to Cain Haine's recount, Cain had stubbornly kept his suspicions about Haine and refused to apologize to her until he could confirm what had truly happened. Despite Cain's persistent coldness and aloofness towards her, Haine had however more things to worry about at hand. For once, in 3 hours time, Noctis, Marco and Haine would be arriving in London and Haine, in spite of having done as much mental preparation as she could for the past few days, practicing with Maria about how she should react in front of Rufus, at present though she still had not much confidence in keeping herself composed in front of him.
While clutching her fingers together tightly and staring down at her shoes, she tried her best to clear her mind and distract herself with other thoughts but to no avail; her heart had been beating abnormally fast since last night.
"You look kind of pale," said Marco abruptly, and Haine looked up at once in surprise, snapping out of her trance. "Are you all right?"
"Yea I'm fine, thanks," replied Haine, whom was now clenching her hands so tightly together that both her hands now bore marks made by her finger nails.
"You should drink something to calm yourself down," said Noctis, whom was looking over at Haine now. "This plane won't reach London until 3 hours later… You will wreck yourself with anxiety before you even arrive at the hotel at this rate…" and as he said so, he proceeded to open the mini-fridge on his right and took out a can of Coca Cola. "Here," he said as he placed it into Haine's hands.
However, instead of drinking the can of Coca Cola, Haine had without warning grabbed over Noctis's glass instead and gulped down its contents, startling both Marco and Noctis.
"Is there anymore?" Haine asked eagerly as she looked over at the both.
"Hey is it really a good idea to let her drink alcohol at this time?" asked Marco, who was still looking at Haine whom seemed slightly out of order at the moment.
"Just let her be," replied Noctis as he proceeded to hold up a bottle of red wine and filled Haine's cup up to the brim. Then, ignoring the fact that she was not used to its bitter taste, Haine swallowed down the wine forcefully as though it was mere plain water…
"It really does taste as horrible as I've expected," said Haine, and at that she had an extremely revolted expression on her face. "But at least I feel much better than a few minutes ago… Thanks…" After guzzling down about 2 more cups of wine, Haine finally stopped and sat still on her seat, gradually closing her eyes and then drifting off to a nap…
"Guess she finally stopped drowning her sorrows eh?" said Marco whom proceeded to take a sip from his cup of peppermint tea.
"Seems like it," replied Noctis, whom was now filling his own cup to the brim with wine. Just as he was about to drink it however, Marco had interrupted, "You shouldn't drink so much either… Once we've arrived in London the meeting will start anytime soon… and you are one of the main characters during the conference too…"
"Relax Marco," answered Noctis, "It's still about 6 hours before we arrive in London… and besides," he said as he looked over at Haine whom is asleep right now, "Unlike her I've plenty of experience in drinking…"
"That's true," admitted Marco. "By the way, when Cain had checked up on her, I was the one who had supplied him with all the resources he needed so I know a huge part of this girl's background as well…"
"What about that?" asked Noctis.
"The village she used to reside in at Kyushu… It was massacred by Sousuke Hiou… It seems that she certainly has a lot of things ongoing about her that we aren't sure of…" said Marco, who then stared over at Haine's sleeping form.
"It doesn't matter," replied Noctis, seemingly unconcerned. "Everyone has a part of his or her past which he or she prefers not to share with others… And I would prefer if you and Cain stop checking up on her any further, it is discourteous of you guys to deliberately check up on someone unnecessarily…"
And for the next few hours on the plane, there was utter silence while Marco and Noctis were looking out of their windows, both of them deep in their own thoughts. Then abruptly, someone had spoken, "Who are the two accompanying Rufus?" Turning around, Noctis noticed that it was Haine who had just woken up.
"It wasn't mentioned," replied Noctis, "But knowing him it will likely be among the usual group of people whom he can trust…" and at that, Haine suddenly felt her stomach drop. The only most probable pair whom she could think of consisted of Vincent and Zachary. Despite the fact that she was reluctant to face either of them, Haine however was feeling slightly eager to see Zachary again, regardless of how his reaction may be towards her unexpected appearance. While trying to think of what she should say to Zachary upon their encounter, she suddenly noticed the Houses of the Parliament coming into view beneath the thin clouds.
"We are arriving soon Sir Noctis," said one of the pilots in front.
After about 10 minutes or so, the plane started to descend rapidly and landed somewhere on an empty field.
"We'll be back on this same spot at the end of the day," said Marco and as the pilots prepared to take off once again, they each gave a respectful nod before departing off.
"Ready?" asked Noctis as he looked over at Haine. "The hotel is no more than a few steps away from where we are now…"
After staring at the hotel for a moment or so with an expressionless look on her face, Haine nodded slightly and the 3 started to head inside. Taking the lift, they proceeded to the 9th floor whereby they arrived in front of 2 doors.
"The meeting room's here," said Marco as he walked forward and knocked on the right door. When he twisted the door knob and pushed it slightly open, a voice had spoken out, "I'm guessing Noctis has arrived." and sure enough, Noctis went in front of both of them and was the first to enter the room.
"Long time no see," said Noctis as he smiled and shook the blond man's hand. It was Rufus, who looked exactly the same as the last time when Haine had seen him.
"The same goes for you," said Rufus as he smiled back and then added, "You should invite your two other subordinates in as well…" and he made way for Marco and Haine to enter.
As Marco walked past Rufus, Marco made a respectful nod towards him before proceeding to sit beside Noctis at the table. However, the moment Haine had entered the room, Rufus had an expression of utmost astonishment on his face. Though not looking exactly pleased or upset, he continued to open the door for Haine as she walked past him, with Haine all the while maintaining a monotonous look on her face. After finally settling down beside Noctis while Rufus closed the door to return back to his own seat, Haine looked up and observed the room closely for the first time. It was carpeted and fairly spacious. 2 other main figures were sitting in the room besides Rufus and Noctis. They had no assistants with them. At Rufus's table however, was Rufus and 2 other men. One of them was Zachary, as expected, the other however, to Haine's slight surprise was Sebastian instead of Vincent whom Haine originally thought Rufus would bring along. Noticing Haine's gaze on him, Zachary looked back at her. Contrary to expectations however, Zachary did not seem to have much emotion on his face either. While Haine was trying her best to keep her face composed and still and all the while wrestling with the emotions inside her, Zachary continued to look at her for a few seconds coldly before looking away. On the other hand, Sebastian seemed to have recognized Haine and looked at her briefly before looking away as well.
"Let the meeting start," said Rufus who looked over at everyone and as his eyes got a glimpse of Haine, they lingered on her for a fraction of a second longer than the rest before looking down at the desk.
For the next hour or so, the silence was so suffocating for Haine that she was surprised that she was able to control herself from running out of the room but instead continued to stay still on the chair beside Noctis.
"…and so to completely subdue that man, Sousuke Hiou, we should first use a bait to lure him out, create the false impression that it's safe to take any course of action while slowly luring him into a trap…" one of the other men had said.
"That's too risky," said the other man, and he shook his head. "There's no confirming that we won't fall into his trap either… For now the most important thing is not to subdue him but cease his distribution of his drugs instead. As we are speaking right now, he has most likely distributed it to no less than a quarter of the world's population."
"The main reason why these drugs are dangerous is because of the fact that it displays different characteristics in different individuals, such as vampirism or blood coagulation as well as altering one's perspective of reality. At present though there is no definite way to prevent these characteristics from showing itself in infected individuals, however the medical advancement in Zaieno will be sufficient in creating counter measure vaccines to purge these drugs out of a victim's body across a long period of time. I believe that's the least we can do for now, and so…" but before Noctis could finish his sentence, someone else had cut in, "I don't really understand the purpose of our discussion right now," and everyone proceeded to turn around. It was Zachary who spoke.
"Pardon?" asked Noctis, who stared at Zachary for the first time since he entered this room.
"I mean to say that instead of carrying out an all out negotiation here," replied Zachary who continued to look expressionless, "I think that asking that woman next to you what Sousuke Hiou's next course of actions are would be way more effective… That way we can efficiently counter his moves and…" but before Zachary could continue, Rufus had spoken, "Stop it Zachary, not now…"
A few others in the room had turned over at Haine and looked at her with a curious expression on their faces. Haine kept silent and stared at Zachary with a slightly surprised look but otherwise composed.
"Shall we have a short intermission before continuing?" interrupted Noctis, and while almost everyone had stood up and headed out of the room, only Rufus, Zachary, Noctis and Haine remained. Marco turned back briefly as he reached the door, but Noctis merely told him quietly, "It's fine," before Marci headed out and joined the rest. Rufus was the one who spoke first.
"I see you have gotten yourself another member," he said.
"That's right," replied Noctis, "Haine is on my offense team."
"I thought that you were supposed to be the King of Zaieno," said Zachary, sounding slightly sarcastic. Haine clenched her fist tightly.
"And so I am," answered Noctis, sounding indifferent.
"Then your judgment most certainly fails you," said Zachary simply, "To have chosen someone like that woman to be on your team." Rufus made a slight twitching movement with his hand but kept silent, continuing to look at Zachary.
"My own judgment has not yet failed me till this day and I hope it never will," said Noctis, looking eye to eye with Zachary now, "But unfortunately it may today…" and Haine looked up at Noctis at once, slightly taken aback at his words. "I always thought that Rufus will bring someone whom is both objective and logical to his conferences but I guess today it seems he may have been just slightly too…" But before he could finish, Haine held tightly onto Noctis's hand and looked up at him with a firm look on her face, which made Noctis stop abruptly and stared back at her for a few seconds. Then, when no one spoke, Haine let go of Noctis and turned around at Zachary, whom continued to eye her unfeelingly.
"Zachary," said Haine, trying her best to keep her voice, "I…" but before she could finish, Zachary had stepped forward instead and stopped right in front of her. However without warning, while Haine was still looking at Zachary with a concerned yet uncertain expression on her face, Zachary had hit her on the left side of the face, causing Haine's cheek to turn red. The slap echoed in the empty room and Haine had an expression of stunned surprise on her face. Raising her hand up slowly and placing her hand on the side of her hit face, she looked up at Zachary. There was an expression of unmistakable disgust and dislike on his face.
As Haine continued to stand there, momentarily rooted to the spot, Zachary had lunged forward and was about to grab hold of her with visible sparks being discharged from his hands. However at that very instant, Rufus had come forth and locked Zachary with his hands over his shoulders, preventing him from moving further.
"Get… off… me," said Zachary as he struggled to break free, but Rufus still did not let go but instead said, "Noctis, get Zachary out of this room for me please…" and Noctis nodded.
"I've got something to speak to Haine about," Rufus added to Zachary, "Will you please leave the two of us alone first Zachary?" and noticing the slight hint of lethargy in Rufus's voice, Zachary finally stopped his attempt to break free and nodded, following Noctis out of the room but not before throwing a final look of detest over at Haine and closing the door. Only Rufus and Haine were in the room now.
"Are you alright?" asked Rufus concernedly, referring to the slap that Zachary had just given her. Haine nodded quietly in response and looked up at Rufus. Then when Haine still remained silent, Rufus continued, "Why didn't you come back after the incident in Shanghai? Many people in the mansion were worried about you…"
"They believed me?" asked Haine in bewilderment.
"Many did," replied Rufus, "They refused to accept that you betrayed us… mainly Yulia and her gang of friends."
"I…" continued Haine, who found it difficult to decide what to say now, "It was…"
"Amber wasn't it?" finished Rufus for her, and Haine stared at him with her mouth open.
"You knew?" said Haine at once
"All along yes," said Rufus with a glum expression on his face, "I sensed that something like this was about to happen sooner or later… But I couldn't confirm at first, so I did not take any action… However for the moment I am observing for Amber for any leads to Sousuke Hiou, that man is extremely cunning and not easy to tail… Amber is the best chance we've got… I'm sorry Haine," and he looked apologetic indeed as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "But for now you have to continue to be marked as a traitor for us to nab Sousuke Hiou once and for all…"
"I understand," said Haine quietly, "You must be in a difficult position too... But there's something that I can't accept though," and Rufus suddenly looked at her in confusion. "What…" but before he had finished his sentence, the next thing Haine knew, she could barely hold in her voice and shouted straight at Rufus, "Hazuki Kamiya! That's what!" and Haine had an expression of resentment on her face.
"Unlike now you weren't placed in such a difficult position back then were you Rufus Robinson! Choosing between forsaking Hazuki forever to get on with your life and taking care of both hers and your child, the answer is obvious isn't it! No one in the right mind would ever consider abandoning their children, no matter what!" and a few tears of anger had trickled down Haine's face.
"What are you saying?" Rufus continued to ask, his face obviously shocked. "She had a child? Who?" Haine looked outraged.
"Are you still feigning ignorance?" she said in a slightly mocking tone, "Or are you just trying to push away your responsibility? You slept with her and bore a daughter didn't you? But you chose to abandon her when she was still pregnant and left her all alone to bear the responsibility of the child… How could you…" and at this point, many drops of tears were trickling down Haine's face now but she did not care and continued to stare at Rufus for an answer.
"She had my child?" questioned Rufus, trying to sound collected but failing terribly. "Who is she?"
After staring at Rufus for a few seconds or so, Haine wiped her face forcefully and dried her tears, saying very quietly, "Hazuki is my mother… I am hers and your child…"
"Why…" said Rufus, more to himself than Haine, "Why didn't she tell me…" then suddenly realizing that Haine was still looking at him with a saddened expression on her face, Rufus abruptly pulled her in for a hug, surprising Haine slightly.
"I'm sorry," said Rufus, "I never knew… I honestly didn't know… if I had known I would never have left her and abandoned you in the process… I'm sorry…" Despite still feeling angry and indignant, Haine however found it difficult to continue shouting at him; it was the first time she had felt the embrace of a family member ever since Kyousuke and Juuri had died. She had been craving for the warmth of it all this while…
After a brief moment of silence, Rufus had finally let go of Haine and asked her intently, "Do you know where Hazuki is now?" and Haine shook her head and replied, "I asked Noctis to find her for me… That was the condition I had for joining his team but he hasn't informed anything about it yet so I guess they haven't found her…"
"Knowing Hazuki I am guessing that she has probably settled down in a peaceful country," said Rufus, "She is the kind of person who craves for nothing but a simple and modest life…"
"I see," said Haine while she continued to look down at the floor, feeling slightly embarrassed. Then just when both of them had heard footsteps approaching the room, Rufus placed a hand on her head, saying, "I wish you all the best in finding Hazuki…" and he returned back to his seat while others had entered the room and returned from the short intermission. Sebastian was the first to enter and staring at Haine uncaringly for a second or so, he sat back beside Rufus.
"Let's continue," said Noctis when everyone had finally assembled back into their seats. Zachary stared at Noctis for a brief moment and then stared at Haine, clearly wondering what had happened during the time Rufus and Haine were in the room alone. However the moment someone had started talking, Zachary's attention became 100% focused on the meeting itself and the two did not look at each other in the eye throughout the second half of the meeting. After another hour or so, it had finally ended. As everyone stood up and Zachary walked past Haine, he had undoubtedly said, "I'll avenge Sarah no matter even if Rufus or anyone stops me the next time…" before exiting the room.
"Let's go, everyone else has left…" said Marco, looking around the room as the three of them proceeded to leave the hotel as well.
Walking quietly to the field, Haine saw that the plane had arrived earlier than expected. One of the pilots had alighted from the plane and said, "We received the message from Mr Rowley that the meeting was ending," and the three proceeded to board the plane back to Zaieno.
"Do you think she'll be ok?" asked Marco as he looked over at Haine whom was currently staring blankly out of the window.
"She'll be," replied Noctis whom had been observing Haine closely ever since they had boarded the plane.
After a few hours of stillness, Haine had alighted from the plane first and walked down the stairs to the castle without saying anything.
"You head back first," said Noctis, "I'll watch over her…" and as he said so, he headed down the same direction as Haine while Marco went the other way.
After walking downstairs continuously, Haine finally stopped at the basement where the aquarium was located.
"I guess I always come down here by instinct whenever I'm feeling down," thought Haine to herself and she proceeded to admire the fishes. As she did so, she placed her hand over the spot where Zachary had slapped her from earlier on and said sadly to herself, "Just when I wanted to see him so badly and ask him how he's doing… I guess he really does hate me now eh…"
"He just doesn't comprehend the true situation here," said Noctis and Haine turned over at once. He was coming down the stairs as well.
"I finally understand why you come down here to take a breather whenever you have the time to," said Haine as she looked up at the ceiling of the basement which had many fish holograms projected on it, "It really does make one feel slightly better…"
Walking towards Haine, he placed a hand on her head and said slowly, "You know… At times like these it's ok to cry…" But Haine did not move and replied glumly, "It's not as though I hadn't expected him to react the way he did…Zachary I mean… But to really experience the real thing it does hurt way more than I had expected… My heart really ached when he hit me… I…" and before she knew, she felt tears trickling down her face and fell forward against Noctis's chest, all the while sobbing her heart out. "I'm really pathetic am I?" she said with her voice shaking, "Acting all cool throughout the whole conference and yet now I'm just so weak… I am even disgusted by myself…"
Keeping his hand on her head, he said quietly, "Isn't it enough? Holding everything in all these while… You were trying so hard to keep it all in throughout the entire meeting… At times like this you should just let it all out and get on with tomorrow… That's how one gets stronger day by day…"
"I'm sorry…" said Haine as she continued to cry on Noctis, "But let me stay like this just for a little while longer…"
Sighing slightly, Noctis remained still while staring straight ahead at the fishes in the tank, while the two continued to stand there for the rest of the night in the underground basement aquarium…