The Wait: Needle in a Haystack
Anybody walking past could hear the cruel sounds of things falling to the floor and shattering glass in Haku's room. It was rather quiet in the shelter that day; nearly everyone had been expecting a wondrous celebration in light of the engagement, but when Haku had returned with an aura that kept people from even uttering a word of greeting to him, they understood what had likely just happened. Unsurprisingly, many others had been taken aback by the news as well, fearing for their founder's emotional state at the moment.
The staff had handed the task of comforting Haku to Shou, though they hadn't even needed to ask; Shou was already making his way towards the noisy room, but never found it in him to knock on the bruised door and enter. He knew, from experience, that when Haku went on a rampage like this—Haku often did this during his period of mourning for Sora as well as her subsequent Sora's death anniversaries—no one could stop him and he just needed some time to himself.
What perplexed Shou deeply was what had happened at the meadow. He'd personally gone down to help out with the preparations, and hadn't been satisfied until everything was top-notch, absolutely perfect and flawless. How could Chihiro have rejected Haku's proposal? She should have recognized the amount of effort Haku put in just by looking at the pictures and the messages written behind them; should not that alone have moved her?
Something was wrong with this couple, he decided, judging from the various arguments they had as well as the insecurities that Chihiro struggled with. Haku was open enough with his actions and was always trying to assure her that they would be fine, but somehow Chihiro was always unconvinced. She worried about too many things, the infinite 'what-if's that existed in choosing to be with Haku, although she did only have Haku's best interests at heart, Shou knew. He sighed, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned against the wall outside of Haku's room, cringing at the sound of more glass shattering. This room was probably going to require more renovation… And there goes the shelter fund again, he thought miserably.
He didn't know how long Haku remained in there, or how Haku managed to find that many things to break and destroy for two hours. Shou was starting to get restless standing there and not being able to do anything, but he restrained himself, gritted his teeth, and told himself that Haku needed alone time. The questions could come later.
Speaking of which, he had told the staff to report to him if they saw Chihiro come back, but until now there hadn't been a sign of her. He was starting to get worried. The Spirit Realm was a large, dangerous place for a lone, vulnerable human to be wandering around in, especially at night, so he quickly found Sakura and the others to help look for Chihiro.
However, the team that went out in search of her came back with no news, other than the fact that it looked like a fight had taken place in that area. They also found a torn yellow piece of cloth that smelled like Chihiro.
The first thing Shou thought of was that Chihiro had been attacked; well duh, she obviously had been. He couldn't leave to search for her though, which frustrated him to no end, so he had left it to the small rescue team to help pick up her scent and find her whereabouts, but even after spending a good few hours there scouring the area as well as the surrounding forest, they couldn't find any sign of her.
Haku was still cooped up in the room, which had long fallen deadly silent, and Shou contemplated going in. Restlessly, he paced up and down, chewing on his lip. He couldn't keep still, not while Chihiro's whereabouts were unknown, or when Haku was in such a state. He really wished he could duplicate himself and go help out in the search for the woman, but right now, Haku needed him, and he had to place his trust in the rescue team; they did care about Chihiro to some extent ever since being acquainted with her, so they were undoubtedly trying their utmost to find her.
"Please be safe," he murmured, balling his fists tightly. When it was near midnight and still the rescue team had yet to bring any news of relief, Shou decided Haku had had enough time to himself. It was time for him to face reality.
Knocking on the door twice, he entered, to find the room looking as if it had just been raped by a tornado. Clothes were strewn everywhere, pieces of glass were lying all over with some dark red stains on them, destroyed and unrecognizable items had obviously been badly abused. His eyes traveled to the lone figure of the dragon who was standing by the window, back facing him. His clothes were quite well shredded—if the situation was different, Shou would have thought Haku was trying out a new fashion statement—and he noticed several cuts on his limbs, presumably made from all the broken glass shards lying about haphazardly.
"Hey dragon," he said. There was no response.
A bright yellow light encircled his right hand as he lifted the glass shards in the air and maneuvered them so they went right into the trash cleanly. Then he entered, carefully avoiding stepping on the things that Haku had done a good job of breaking, and made his way over to the man, stopping a good meter away from him. "How about we go for a fly, hmm? We haven't done that in a while."
Haku didn't respond, but from the way his ear twitched ever so slightly, Shou knew he heard him. Shou was about to ask again when Haku opened the window and jumped out, changing into his dragon form in a flash and soaring away.
Alarmed, Shou cried out a hasty "Wait for me, dragon!" before too, transforming and trying to catch up with the dragon that was cutting through the air at top speed. If Shou didn't know better, he would have thought Haku was actually running away from him.
Eventually he managed to catch up to Haku and they flew side by side, not exchanging words, but acknowledging each other's presence. Haku's long slender body was filled with cuts too, and Shou sighed inwardly. This dragon really didn't know how to take care of himself.
They continued flying like that, feeling the caress of the wind on their bodies. Shou hoped this would calm Haku down a bit. Flies were always the best things to do when Haku was stressed. They used to do this together a lot, and that was how they had become best friends year back. He remembered they would childishly race each other till they were both out of commission and could do nothing but lie on the ground and try to catch their breaths. They would also try to see who could fly the highest, and usually Shou would win at that because he was always better with height, though in terms of speed, he had to admit Haku was without a doubt, the more skilled one.
Shou was so lost in his thoughts that he failed to notice Haku suddenly dip, and it was only after he flew quite a distance ahead that he realized the dragon was no longer with him. He groaned internally when he saw, through the bare branches of trees below, the dragon flying downwards with the intention of landing and followed behind, before it dawned on him that this place looked dreadfully familiar: Sora's grave.
Haku came to a stop in front of the grave, and released a roar that made several remaining leaves from the nearby trees fly off, and the grass barely able to withstand the force of it. Shou grimaced as he landed too, changing back into his human form. That animal roar was one filled with grief, anger and absolute despair. Shou had heard it only once before, which was the day Sora died. He never thought he'd be hearing it again, though this roar made the previous one that he heard from Haku sound almost cute.
After screaming in his dragon form a few more times, Haku finally returned to his human form, kneeling down at the grave and sobbing. Shou stood a good distance away, allowing him some privacy but not letting him out of his sight.
"Sora… Sora…" Haku choked, clutching at his chest. "It hurts so much… Why? Why did she do that? First you left me, and now she intends on leaving me too. Why do the people I love always have to leave? Why?" It ended up in a shout, and Shou felt some moisture gather in the back of his eyes.
He had been there when Sora died; it had been a very difficult period for all of them, not just Haku. And Shou knew that Haku had his heart broken then, but this… this was much, much worse. Sora had been his best friend and most trusted confidant, but Chihiro meant the world to him, and losing her was the equivalent of the world he knew come crashing down on him.
"I did all those things for her, I loved her with all my heart, I never doubted her, and yet she…" he growled lowly, "She doubted me. She doubted my words, my actions, everything that I had ever done for her. Have I done something wrong? Tell me! Have I done something so wrong to deserve this betrayal? Have I done something so wrong to lose her?" he yelled.
And then he began to shake, as he lowered his voice suddenly. "I said I wouldn't make her cry again, yet all I… All I did was hurt her. I made her cry again, because of me… I hurt you Sora, and now I hurt her too. What should I do? All I do is hurt the people I love," he said, this time the hurt was raw in his voice. "Maybe I really don't deserve to love anyone…"
Haku lingered there in the dim moonlight, crying at Sora's grave. Sora had always been the one person he would cry to; he never showed this vulnerable side of him to anyone else. Shou stood, watching him from behind, all the while breaking on the inside for Haku. What had gone down between them, exactly? If Chihiro ever saw him like this… Goodness even he felt like crying now, watching his wreck of a best friend.
"I proposed to her, she didn't accept," Haku suddenly said in a louder voice. He was speaking to Shou, though not facing him. "And I just lost it, right then and there," he continued in a ragged voice, "I… I attacked her, and tried to… I-I scared her… More than anything, even after reciting those vows to her, about not letting her cry any more because of me, I made her cry. She was terrified of me, but I didn't stop. I was so desperate to keep her by my side I failed to consider her feelings or even anything around me at that time."
"… She hasn't returned to the shelter, you know," Shou said.
Haku turned around, flashing him a look of shock. "What do you mean she hasn't returned? That was nearly six hours ago!"
"It's like I said," Shou said, looking away and sighing, "she hasn't come back since you two left. There's a team looking for her right now, but they've been looking for the past couple of hours and still there's no sign of her. Do you know where she could have gone?"
"I don't know. When she was running from me, she was with…" Suddenly Haku's eyes darkened scarily and he rose, marching towards Shou. "She was with Rei."
"Why is she with him?" Shou demanded. "Now that you mention him… I sent him out on a job this afternoon, right around the time before you and Chihiro went out, he should have come back long ago… What are they doing together?"
When Haku didn't reply, Shou grabbed the collar of his shirt. "It's late, and Chihiro could be anywhere! Even a little bit of information would help, I know you're feeling betrayed and all that stuff now, but right now Chihiro's safety is a priority, do you understand me?"
"He saved her… from me…" Haku murmured. His eyes were glazed over.
"What do you mean, he saved her from you?"
"I… When she rejected the proposal… I just snapped. Something in me just snapped and then I was attacking her, trying to claim her as my mate."
Shou took a few seconds to let this information sink in. "You tried to do what? Are you kidding me? You tried to claim her? Don't you know how traumatized she was after she nearly got raped by that man who got hypnotized by Makoto?"
"It was stupid of me, I know. I… I wasn't thinking at the time. I hurt her badly, but before I could do anything more Rei came and we fought, and he grabbed Chihiro and they ran."
"Shit," Shou muttered under his breath. Nothing pissed a beast spirit more when something or someone else tried to get in the way with it when it wanted to claim its mate. "You tried to kill him?" he asked.
"Yes, but then Chihiro, she…" Haku clenched his fists and sunk his teeth into his lower lip so hard it began to bleed, "She protected him. I ended up injuring her, on the shoulder."
"Holy shit," was all Shou could say to that. A spirit taking a blow meant to kill from another was bad enough, but for a human to have to endure that?
"She's critically injured, that means we have to find her as soon as possible! Haku, you have a bond with her, you'd be able to recognize her scent better. Quick, we have to get to meadow and start searching from there."
Shou pulled Haku along, but Haku held back, looking quite hesitant. Without another thought, Shou slapped Haku. Hard.
"What the hell was that for?" the dragon seethed, holding his hand to his burning cheek.
"For Chihiro. She could be in danger now and here you are still hesitating when we have to go save her. Were you even telling the truth when you said you love her?" Shou spat.
Haku clenched his fists till his knuckles turned white. "Don't you bloody dare doubt me like she did," he snarled, before lunging at Shou. He aimed to punch Shou in the gut, but Shou expertly dodged and brought his elbow down on Haku's back, slamming him into the ground.
In a flash Haku was up before Shou could kick him. He grabbed the blonde's leg and threw the man over his head roughly onto the dirt. The two began sparring like that bare handedly, each returning even blows and neither backing down easily. They were equally matched; there was no surprise there. Shou had once been a part of the Shugorei too, and the two of them had even been dubbed the "Dragon Phoenix Duo" back in those days.
Shou received a strong punch to the cheek, and he returned it by kicking Haku squarely in the chest, shoving him backwards. After receiving and dealing more blows like that, the two stopped, chests heaving heavily and sore throats burning for air. They took a moment each to bend over in attempt to catch their breaths. "You… You're not bad… for someone who's left the Shugorei for so long," Haku managed.
"I still… train every day, as if I would let myself lose to someone like you," Shou retorted, panting.
Haku smirked. "Looks like we're still at a tie, just like old times."
"I was going easy on you, dragon. The next time I'm not going to hold back," he warned.
"I'll beat you anytime, hands down, phoenix. Don't get too cocky; I train every day too."
"We'll see about that," Shou said.
With a sigh, they fell on their backs simultaneously, gazing up at the distant half-hidden moon in the black sky overhead. "Thanks, Shou," Haku spoke up after a moment of silence passed between the two men.
"For what?"
"For slapping me out of it. I'm thinking more clearly now," Haku sighed.
"Good, I was actually just thinking of slapping you once more in case you hadn't woken up yet."
Haku chuckled. "Shou, I would like to ask a favor from you."
"You already owe me a favor after creating that hell of a mess in your room," the man replied dryly.
"Sorry about that; I'll be responsible for the charges. But seriously," he said, tone becoming more stern, "I'd like for you to help me look into Rei's background."
"This again? He's worked here for a while, and I think he's a nice guy. Weird guy, I'll admit that much, but nice."
"There's something more to him, and it's not because I'm jealous," Haku added before Shou could open his mouth in retort. "There's something familiar about him, but I cannot place my finger on it, and every time I see him I have a bad feeling stirring in my gut. I've felt this before, but I cannot remember when. So, would you? You were part of the Intelligence Unit, you'd have connections with your old comrades, wouldn't you?"
"I guess I could work something out," Shou said slowly, "but do you think he could be dangerous?"
"I hope not, because if so, then Chihiro is in grave danger."
For the rest of the night, Shou and Haku continued the relentless search for Chihiro. The rescue team had been exhausted, and they were rather reluctant to retire for the night when Shou and Haku had told them to; they shared their worries for Chihiro, but their aching bodies were all but proof that they needed a break. After apologizing, they headed back to the shelter for some well-deserved sleep, while Haku and Shou continued scouring the area for her.
Shou could not contact his ex-colleagues because right now they'd be sleeping, and he knew just how mad they would be if someone interrupted their sleep; trainings and jobs wore them out enough on a daily basis, after all.
"I can't smell her anywhere… Her scent has been cut off," Haku frowned, as they stood in the meadow. He couldn't even get the slightest whiff of her smell in the place they had been earlier, which was strange; humans usually had a stronger smell than spirits, and her smell shouldn't have disappeared so quickly, unless someone had deliberately wiped all traces of her from this area.
"If even your nose can't find her, then…" Shou looked around, scratching his head. "Maybe footprints? Where could Rei have taken her?"
"She's seriously injured, they couldn't have ventured too far."
"The team searched the entire area here, every spot and even the forest nearby. There was no trace of Chihiro."
Haku thought about it deeply. "That's odd… With that injury of hers, Rei could not have been able to get too far; if he did, it would mean endangering her."
"That's assuming he doesn't bear any ill-will towards her, right?" Shou said.
"Yes…" Haku felt like slapping himself. How could he have just left Chihiro to Rei like that? He hardly knew that guy, for all he knew, that man could be a shady character harboring sinister motives.
Rei caught Chihiro swiftly, her eyes struggling to keep open. "Chihiro! Come on, Chihiro stay with me! Chihiro!" Rei yelled, shaking her. It didn't help though; in fact it only made more fresh blood from her new wound gush out, staining the lush green grass.
"Chi…" Haku staggered towards her, staring at his right fist that was drenched in her blood. The metallic smell wafted towards his nostrils, making the sour feeling of nausea rise in his chest and causing him to gag. "Chihiro…" He reached a shaking hand out towards her, but Rei pulled her back fiercely.
"Stay away from her! You hurt her! Look at what you have done, dragon! Are you happy now? Are you happy that she nearly got killed because of you?" Rei shouted lividly. His eyes were screaming for blood, but he restrained his trembling body as he held the weakly breathing human in his arms.
Chihiro had long gone unconscious by now, and now her breaths were faint. Blood was still oozing out of her wound, and Rei set her down on the ground as gently as he could before ripping out a piece of his shirt and wrapping the cloth around her shoulder, pulling tightly as he did so in order to stop the bleeding. The woman whimpered and groaned in protest, but nevertheless he tied the cloth around her shoulder tightly.
"Leave, if you know what's good for her," Rei muttered darkly. "You don't have the right to even look at her, you monster. You hurt her, not just broke her heart, but physically too. Now get away! Get out of her sight!"
Like a robot, Haku mechanically backed away, as tears cascaded down his bruised cheeks. He had just… hurt the woman he loved… so much…
Without a moment's hesitation, he let the wind take him away, and then he turned his head around, forcing himself not to look back; he had no right to.
"Do you think Rei cleaned up the whole place to keep you from finding Chihiro, in case you were still in that beastly mode?" Shou asked.
"It is possible," Haku nodded, but instinctively in his gut, he knew that there was more to it than meets the eye. As much as he was trying to be objective here, Rei was just too… unknown a character.
"How long till you can contact your friends?" the dragon asked as he tapped his foot on the ground impatiently.
"The earliest would be daybreak, which is about three hours from now. How about you go back and rest first? You'll need the energy if you want to continue looking for her, you know. And, you should treat those bruises; you look like you grew eggplants out of your face."
Haku sent his friend a flat stare, before answering, "You go get some rest first. I want to stay here for a while more… I can't sleep without knowing that she isn't safe."
His blonde companion looked doubtful though. "You sure you can handle being alone here? I don't want you going insane once I'm out of here."
"I'm not bipolar or crazy, Shou. You've already slapped me out of that trance I was in earlier. I just… want some time alone for a while."
"Fine then, just be sure to get some rest. I'll call them up first thing when the sun rises."
"Thanks, Shou. You're a good friend."
"I know, I know, you love me. Enough with this mushy stuff, you're making me sick," he cringed. "Bye now, I'm going to get some rest first." Then the phoenix rose into the air, flying at a leisurely pace back to the shelter.
Haku then made his way towards the tree that still looked untouched. The pictures, balloons and streamers were all in place, other than the occasional specks of dirt hanging loosely on them. He sighed, feeling an ache in his chest. As he approached the tree, his eye spotted the sparkling item he'd been looking for. Picking it up with the velvet box, he dusted them both off, before placing the ring back into its spot.
He imagined how it would have looked on Chihiro's ring finger; she would have looked absolutely stunning in that, but certainly more so when she was in a bridal gown, walking down the aisle towards him…
"Please…" he murmured, holding the ring to his lips. "All I ask is that you're safe. Even if you want to leave me… please be safe, my love…"
The next morning Shou and Haku were in the Archives in the Shugorei headquarters, looking through the numerous records of criminals and wanted criminals within the last ten years. Rin and Kenma, Shou's ex-colleagues had been too busy to personally assist them, so they had given both passes to access the Archives, a place which held the records of all past criminals as well as wanted criminals in the Spirit Realm.
"That's only assuming if Rei was a criminal or a wanted man from the Shugorei though," Haku had pointed out, frowning.
Shou had given him an even reply, "I thought you said there was something shady about him? The best place to start looking would be in the Archives."
So the two were currently standing in the middle of the three-story dome where a shining white podium stood. They were each looking at various records and trying their best to find Rei's face—if he even showed up there.
"Wow, this brings back memories. I see so many faces that we've apprehended before," Shou murmured as he flipped through the pages quickly. It wouldn't take long for them to finish looking through all ten records, including the one from present year, but as book after book was discarded, Haku wondered if they were on the wrong track. After all, Rei could be a first-timer, so there wouldn't be any records of him here.
Haku was now holding the book of records from a year ago. Flipping through it, he scanned through the pictures, looking through each one carefully. When it neared the end, he was about to discard it when a familiar smirk staring at him from the pages made him stop. Immediately flipping to that page, he found a fair-skinned, young man with hair as black as night, reaching his shoulders. It was mussed up and his bangs were spiky, falling long enough to hide his eyes, though Haku could identify the dark orbs staring up at him.
"Found something?" Shou asked, when he noticed his partner hadn't been flipping pages for a while.
"Look at this, Shou."
The blonde peered over, scrutinizing the photo when his eyes widened considerably. "Looks sort of different, but the resemblance is uncanny," he said.
Haku nodded wordlessly and began to read the contents.
Name: Kashikyo Kurou
Gender: Male
Age: 1507 years
Status: Wanted Criminal (Missing), Red Criminal
Species: Bat Spirit
Abilities: Dark magic
Criminal record: Took part in a rebellion to instigate others in staging a war against the human world.
General In-Charge: Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi
"Haku, this case was under you, right? Do you remember anything?" Shou asked.
"Kashikyo… I remember now," Haku said grimly, pursing his lips. "One of the biggest cases I was put in charge of. The Kashikyos were a very prominent family; wealthy and powerful, but they used that influence to instigate several other spirits like me who lost their homes in the human world to stage a war on the humans. They blamed the loss of their homes on the humans and wanted revenge, so they went on a rampage near the gates and nearly managed to cross over, except my team intercepted them. We were able to apprehend nearly all the suspects, including the one behind it: Kashikyo Baro."
"Rei—I mean, Kurou's father?"
"Yes. He was a powerful spirit, and it wasn't easy beating him, but while arresting him, he suddenly pulled an attack on one of my men, killing him instantly, and subsequently I… killed him."
Shou's mouth fell open. "Did Makoto..?"
"I was heavily punished for that, though there was some allowance since Baro had put up resistance while under arrest."
"What about Kurou?"
"It was chaotic then; he must have slipped past the whole fight and hid somewhere until we left."
"And now, he's back, seeking revenge?"
"Given the circumstances, it is highly probable. I did kill his father, after all. He might have taken Chihiro to use her against me."
Shou clenched his fists tightly. "What… What are we going to do? We have to save Chihiro; she could be in danger right now!"
"I… I don't know. We have no leads, nothing to follow, not even a hint of her whereabouts."
"So, you're just going to give up?" Shou demanded.
Haku said nothing in response, looking away.
"What the hell? Chihiro's depending on you and now you're not going to care? Haku, I thought you were more of a man than this!"
"Do you think I'm not worried?" Haku suddenly shouted, shooting a piercing glare at the phoenix. "Every second Chihiro is with Kurou, is one second more she's in critical danger, do you think I don't know that? I've seen what Kurou's father can do, Kurou may not be as powerful, but he has the capacity to kill Chihiro without so much as blinking."
"I'm sorry, Haku…"
"Don't be, this is not your fault. It's all mine, I never should have left her with him, I never should have overreacted in that way."
"Brooding over it isn't going to help, what we need to do is find a way to look for her."
"Rei has a room in the shelter, right?"
"Yeah… why?"
"Take any of his belongings. I'll ask one of the trackers in my old team to see if he can help."
"Good thinking. I'll go right away," the blonde said, pausing. "Are you going to report this to Makoto?"
Haku shook his head and shrugged. "Leaving the Shugorei means any obligation of theirs to do their part in helping me out ceases to exist. You know this as well as I do."
Shou sighed. "Makoto treats you like his own son, you know?"
"That was only because he thought of me as his successor. Now that I've made it clear that I'm not coming back to the Shugorei, we have cut all ties between us."
"Haku…"
"Go quickly back to the shelter, there's no time to waste, I'll stay here to look for Tadashi."
Shou nodded, already making his way out of the Archive. "Good luck," he said, closing the double glass doors behind him.
We are going to need all the luck we can get… Haku thought to himself.
A/N: I expect loads of hugs for this earlier-than-intended update (kidding) HAHAHA but anyways hope you liked it (: I'm down to my final three papers and yay I can't wait for it to end! :D
So, give it up for the reviewees the previous chapter! Naughty naughty… all the vulgarities just sprung out haha. And really, your reviews gave me a big laugh because you guys were totally freaking out on Haku and Rei. X'D
Guest, Denise530, Crazygeekweirdo, NarutoSwag99, Pureblooded1998, RosemaryThief, heidir1224, SAK00, Weirdnfreaky, captainjelsa, killerqueen04, isagrecia and CrimsonEyedLover!
Love you all and do leave a review if you have the time? :P God bless you guys! ^~^
P.S. For any of you Fairy Tail lovers out there, I published a story for the beloved Nalu OTP so if you want you could check it out ^^ Thanks!
