« Where are you heading, so early in the morning ? » asked Kurozawa-sensei, lifting an eyebrow.
« The Shieikan. » answered Haruhi, quickly finishing her breakfast.
« Of course... » he muttered « the Shieikan... Spending your afternoons there isn't enough ? Don't bring shame on the Kondou girl. »
« I'm not ! » she protested « I've got a friend visiting. He's staying at the Shieikan and I'm supposed to take him to Tokyo this morning. »
« Him ? »
« Yeah, it's a boy. I can have male friends, can't I ? » she frowned, on the defensive.
« Of couse you can. » he chuckled « I'm not your father or anything and I'm even happy you can spend time with another man. Staying with Okita-san all the time isn't healthy. »
« For the last time, it's Tsunashi. We're collegues, nothing more. » she stated.
« Are you, though ? »
« I don't bring shame on Tama, if that is your question. » she frowned again « and even if I was, that's not your business. »
« Indeed. » he nodded « But I'd still be disappointed. »
« Well, you have no reason to be. » she stated, getting up « Don't expect me for lunch, I'll probably eat in town. There's rice and umeboshi if you're in the mood for it. »
« I'm capable of cooking myself. » he laughed « I'll be okay. Go. »
« Thanks Ojiisan » she smiled « see you tonight ! »
Haruhi quickly grabbed her wakizashi, put her sandals on and headed towards the Shieikan. She got in as if it was still her home but bad habits were hard to get rid of. Part of her soul was still in the Shieikan's walls, close to Souji's heart. She found him and Tama eating breakfast and they saluted her with a smile.
« Good morning Haru-chan ! » said Tama « Did you get breakfast yet ? Maybe you'd like a tea ? »
« No, thank you Tama-chan. » smiled Haruhi « I'm sorry to bother you. I was looking for Daisuke. Is he up ? »
« Who ? » asked Souji, lifting an eyebrow and sipping his tea.
« Daisuke. » repeated Haruhi, already annoyed « where is he ? »
« Never heard of him... » shrugged Souji « Tama-chan ? Rings any bells ? »
« I... I... don't know... » stuttered Tama, eyes wide.
« I think you dreamt, Haru-chan... » said Souji with a wry smirk « There's no one else here. »
Haruhi unsheathed her wakizashi and put it on Souji's neck. Unfazed, he kept sipping his tea calmly.
« Am I supposed to feel threatened ? » he asked with a chuckle.
« Not you. » replied Haruhi, her eyes as grey as her blade's steel, furious « I know you wouldn't speak even under torture. Unfortunately, I do care for my friend. Tama-chan » she said, turning to the girl « if you don't tell me where is Daisuke, I'm making you a widow. »
« I... I... » panicked the girl, seeking help in Souji's eyes.
« It's fine, Tama-chan » smiled Souji « Haru-chan is gonna calm down soon enough... Aoutch ! »
Haruhi had slid a little her blade against Souji's neck and the small stream of blood was enough to make Tama speak. She was no warrior.
« Souji locked him up ! » she spurted out « He's unharmed ! »
« Tama... » sighed Souji as Haruhi was lowering her blade « You mustn't believe everything everyone says... You're too trustful. »
« I'm sorry, Souji ! » she bowed, already cleaning his neck with a cloth, completely panicked.
« I would have slit your throat. » stated Haruhi.
« For that boy ? » pouted Souji « I don't believe you would have. »
« Guess you'll never know. » said Haruhi « Where is he ? I'm supposed to bring him to Shinpachi's. You told me you would care for him. »
« I did. » nodded Souji « he got a bath, a futon, dinner, breakfast... If that's not courtesy, I don't know what it is. »
« You locked him up ! » yelled Haruhi.
« Shiranui-chan knows things about me and my past. » said Souji « I'm not giving him back. »
« What ? » asked Haruhi, astonished.
« Things have been said yesterday, some troublesome, mysterious things. » he stated « don't believe I haven't taken note even if you changed the subject. I'll make the boy talk and get the truth out of him. »
« Souji... » said Haruhi, realizing that there was only one way to release her friend « Let me bring him to Heisuke and I promise I'll tell you the whole story. »
« So you know more too, don't you Haru-chan ? » he smirked.
« Yes... » she answered grudgingly « But telling you the truth sooner wouldn't have helped you. »
« I can't see why the truth could have been a bad thing. » he frowned.
« Give me Daisuke. » she ordered « and I'll tell you everything. »
« No way I let the both of you together and agree on a version. » he stated « I have a better deal. You're telling me everything you know, then we go together see Shiranui-chan and if he does have the same version, I'm not torturing him. »
« Okay » sighed Haruhi, sitting at the breakfast table « Are you sure you want Tama to stay ? »
Souji looked at the girl and smiled, nodding.
« I don't have anything to hide to my lovely wife. » he said with a sly smirk and Tama blushed, uncomfortable.
« Okay. » said Haruhi « Souji, you died in Itabashi. »
« What ? » asked Souji, loosing his arrogant smile.
« I was the one who turned you into a Rasetsu. » she said, explaining things in the right order « I loved you and you couldn't get out of bed anymore. I knew the Ochimizu was kind of a cure and I slipped it in your porridge to cure you. It worked to an extent. You got your strength back but you had a lot of bloodlust episodes. Your body was weaker and even if you seemed not to suffer from the tuberculosis anymore, it was still there. You used all your lifespan trying to rescue Kondou and you turned to dust... That's why your memory ends in Itabashi. You went to the afterlife. »
Souji wasn't smiling anymore, trying to process that he was a dead man.
« I am dead ? » he eventually asked « am I a kind of ghost ? Why do I have feet ? »
« No. » said Haruhi « when I was eleven, I was in Yase and I met Daisuke. We became good friends and also with his brother Akira. I spent quite a few days hanging out with them. Akira was promised to a girl from Yase and she took us to see the Yase relics, two ancient demon arms who could grant more strength than you can imagine to their bearer. That's when they told me that every Oni clan was built on a location where there was something to protect. For Daisuke's, the Kazama clan, it was the Mirror. It's a gate between our world and Yomi. I decided that I'd find it, use it, and bring you back. »
« A gate... To the land of the dead... » he repeated.
« I didn't have much more informations about it appart from knowing it was in Kyushu. Fortunately, my road crossed Daisuke's again when I was fithteen and he was kind of in love with me. He remembered my interest for the Mirror and he brought me maps and stories about it for me to study them. I was so excited that I told him I was gonna use it to bring you back. The gate only opens once a year, on new years eve, at the minute when the year dies and another one is born. I quitted my family in early November and traveled to Kyushu. I found the Mirror and took you back with me. »
« That's impossible... » muttered Tama, both hands on her mouth « that's defying the Kami... »
« I admire your talent for storytelling » snarled Souji with a smirk, his composure regained « But I don't see why you would have kept that from me that long. »
« The price » sighed Haruhi « Your return wasn't free. »
« What did you give ? » asked Souji, his interest renewed.
« All the memories you had of me. » she replied with a faint smile « and you were supposed to fall in love with me within a year, otherwise you'd die again. »
« And you hid that from me ? » he asked, fury in his eyes.
« Would you have fallen for me if you knew you had to ? » she asked « You would have felt obligated, maybe even you would have been so afraid of dying that it would have paralyzed you. »
« I'm a samurai. » he stated « death doesn't scare me. Yet, I understand your choice. »
« You believe me ? » asked Haruhi, surprised.
« No. » chuckled Souji « not yet. I want the boy to confirm your story. Apparently, he has a great role in it so it shouldn't be hard. »
« Go ahead. » nodded Haruhi.
« If his version differs of yours, I'm getting the truth out in a less pleasant way. » he warned.
« I'm not afraid. »
« I wasn't speaking about you. »
« I know. »
Souji looked at her lengthily with still that glimmer in his eyes, smiling in a predatory way like a cat eager to play with his prey and he stood up.
« Follow me. »
Souji guided her, not surprisingly, to the room which also served her as prison cell a few months ago. There, she found Daisuke perfectly well, as Souji said.
« Haruhi-senpai ! » he smiled « Are we going to Tokyo ? »
« Are you alright, Daisuke ? » she asked, concerned.
« Yes. » he nodded « Tsunashi-san asked me to wait here for you and the both of them have been very kind to me. »
Souji shrugged with disinterest and crossed his arms.
« Tell him to tell me the truth. » he said, cutting short in the conversation.
« Daisuke, Souji wants you to tell him everything you know about him. » she said grudgingly « You have my permission to do so. »
« But... » he widened his eyes « appart from the Mirror, I don't know anything about Tsunashi-san. »
« Haruhi, get out. » ordered Souji with a somber expression.
« Souji, don't hurt him ! » she warned.
« I won't » he nodded « Shiranui-chan and I are just gonna have a little chat and I'll give him back to you. »
Haruhi looked at the two men and eventually turned around, getting out.
« Souji, I trust you. » she said on her way out « Don't you dare betray me. »
« Okay kitten. » he said with a smirk, the darkness still present in his eyes « Don't worry. »
« I do worry... » she muttered, getting out.
When she closed the door, she was soon joined by Tama who still had trouble to fathom everything.
« You really went to Yomi to get Souji back ? » she asked after a while.
« Yes. » nodded Haruhi.
« How... How is it ? » she asked, curious.
« Dark, empty, cold... » listed Haruhi « but I'm not sure that was the real land of the dead. It might have been an illusion. »
« Hum... Okay... But wha... »
Her sentence was cut short by ruckus coming from the room but before Haruhi could barge in, Daisuke slid the shoji, getting out.
« What's happening in there ? » asked Tama, afraid.
« Souji lost it. » replied Haruhi, sighing.
« Is that normal, Haruhi-senpai ? » asked Daisuke, confused « Tsunashi-san went berserk. »
« Yeah, he has kind of an anger problem... » she said « He's letting out steam and he'll get out fresh as new... Sorry Tama, you're probably gonna have a lot of work in that room... »
« I've never seen him like this... » commented the girl, scared « Does it happen often ? »
« When he's upset » chuckled Haruhi, unimpressed « when he's angry, when the situation escapes him, when he's insecure, when he's afraid... »
« Souji's never afraid of anything. » frowned Tama.
« You just don't know him well enough yet. » muttered Haruhi with a sad smile.
The three of them stayed silent, listening to the shattered things, the yelling and insults that were behind the shoji until it eventually stopped. A few seconds later, Souji got out with a smile as if the situation was perfectly normal.
« I'll clean. » he said before anyone could say anything « Tama-chan, can you go to your room and wait for me there ? I'll join you in a minute. »
Tama's face flushed, flustered, and she stuttered when she spoke.
« O... Okay... So... Souji... » she managed to answer before she disappeared to her bedroom, waiting for her husband.
« You two. » ordered Souji « You can go to Shinpachi's today but I want you both here this evening in case I have more questions or things I wanna say to you. Don't you dare run away or I'll find you and kill you. Am I understood ? »
« You don't have any authority on us. » said Haruhi with defiance.
« Then, what if I say please Haru-chan ? » he smiled with a softer expression.
Haruhi and Daisuke looked at each other and the girl eventually nodded, sighing.
« We'll be there. »
« Good. » smiled Souji, patting her head « then go. »
Daisuke was still confused about the whole situation but Haruhi grabbed his hand and pulled him away, ready to go to Tokyo, while Souji took the direction of Tama's room, which annoyed Haruhi more than it should have.
« Tsunashi-san is even scarier than your father. » stated Daisuke when they were out « And I'm an Oni. »
Haruhi chuckled and smiled, looking at her friend.
« Souji has a big mouth. » said Haruhi, walking with him « but he wouldn't kill us for real. »
« You're sure about that ? » asked Daisuke, not convinced.
« No. » she chuckled again « But he's not a bad guy in the end. He's just not very good on first impressions. »
The Oni didn't seem to believe her but he was polite enough not to comment too much about the man who was graciously sheltering him.
« You have the cure ? » asked Haruhi.
« In my chest pocket. » he smiled.
« Cool. » she nodded « let's go find Heisuke ! »