Part 10

I blinked several times. "Everythin—"

"Not right away though," continued Isuzu. "Otherwise I would've been let out earlier. I figured Haru would eventually just get tired of asking me questions and let me go."

"But he didn't?"

"No. I knew was stubborn, but I didn't expect him to be that stubborn. I mean, I screamed a lot of terrible things at him to get him to let me go. Sometimes he would change into Black Haru, but he would never harm me. Hell, he never even threatened me, except for telling me he wasn't going to let me out."

I couldn't hold back a smile. I had been worried that Haru had gotten over Isuzu and moved on, but he hadn't. His love for her seemed to be stronger than ever.

"Finally, yesterday I broke. I kinda realized that Haru wasn't going to let me out of there. I mean, two weeks had already passed and I knew that he wasn't going to give up. So I told him everything."

"Everything, as in…?"

"The truth about my 'accidents', how Akito was involved in them, and why he did them."

My mouth went dry. I couldn't even imagine the reaction Haru had when Isuzu told him.

"I told him in a rather crude manner about it so it would seem like I was lying. And I thought that he thought I was lying. He was just so…calm. Then he got up and left." She lowered her head. "I was so angry with him then. I never wanted him to find out about it, but I…and when he just upped and left I was in a rage because it felt like he brushed it off. I yelled after him to get his ass back there and untie me. But then I was crying…it had been so long since I cried. I just felt like everything had crumbled. It wasn't too long before I cried myself to sleep.

"I woke up only minutes later to angry screaming and crashes. It didn't take me too long to realize that Haru had become Black Haru and he was tearing apart his house. While I felt relieved that he did seem to care, I was a little scared at the same time. I was afraid he'd go after Akito in that rage.

"But…he calmed down and came back into my room. My hands were still tied so I couldn't wipe the tears off my face. He did untie me and said that we were going to pay Akito a visit. Believe me; it took a long time to convince him not to go after Akito. I mean, I made up every excuse I could think of. I told him that I started it all, but he just replied that that didn't give Akito the right to throw me out a window. I told him I beat Akito just as much as he beat me, but he said that Akito never had the right to hit me to begin with, head of the family or not."

I gulped audibly. Haru really wanted to kill Akito. Not that I blamed him or anything.

"I did convince him eventually, though. I promised I would ignore Akito's orders and go out with him again if he promised not to get revenge on Akito."

"What did he say?"

"He was pissed off that that was the only way that we could hook back up, but he agreed to it."

"So…you're going back out with Haru?"

"…Yes."

I closed my eyes. "That's good."

"No, it's not!!" Isuzu suddenly yelled. "Don't you see?! Akito put me in the hospital because he believes I seduced Haru!! I broke up with Haru so that he wouldn't have to face the same wrath I did!! Now it's all turned to shit!! Everything I've gone through up to now has been for nothing!!"

"Isuzu!! Pushing Haru away was never the right thing to do!! I understand that you did it with the best of intentions, but it only worked to cause the both of you more pain!!"

"That might be, but its protected Haru all this time from Akito!!"

"Don't think so lowly of Haru!!" I suddenly screamed. Isuzu stared shocked at me. "Do you honestly think that Haru is incapable of surviving Akito's wrath?! Do you think that he'd allow it?! Dammit Isuzu, I never expected you to be so stupid!! Haru isn't a child!! He doesn't to be guided around or protected!! He's perfectly capable of taking care of himself!! You should know that by now!!"

Isuzu closed her eyes and let out a shaky sigh. I could tell she was on the verge of tears.

"I'm going to my room now." She got up, but I quickly grabbed her hand.

"Isuzu, at least promise me this. You are in a mess now, but don't try to run away. You won't have to face it alone anymore. Haru won't allow you to. So please do him and yourself a favor and stop lying to yourself!!"

Isuzu was silent for a long while. Then she said, "Fine, I promise." She broke free of my loose hold and went into her room.

---

Akito wasn't exactly thrilled to see Isuzu back, nor was he thrilled that I had failed to report to him that she had returned. But with Hatori's insistence Akito wasn't able to 'scold' me. Hatori took an extra step to make sure Akito couldn't 'scold' Isuzu for disappearing and Akito made no attempt to. I guessed that he had been sick of having 'accidents' along with her.

Haru did seem to be on the brighter side of things lately. He stopped by the house frequently, disguising it as visiting me while I was recovering. Truthfully he spent most of the visits with Isuzu. I was glad to see him much happier.

And he kept true to his promise. I knew this because Akito was still alive.

Despite her own misgivings, Isuzu was starting to crack around Haru. Even though she put herself through hell to keep away from Haru, she was definitely a lot happier than she had been when she had returned.

I had my own happiness too. The end of the first month of my recovery was coming to a close. I still had a long way to go, but I was feeling healthier as the days went by.

And happier with the phone calls I got from Kyo. Apparently no one really had any idea that Haru and Isuzu were back together. Even if I hated keeping stuff from the other Juunishi, the less they knew the less Akito knew.

"How are things there?" I asked cheerfully, avoiding the topic of Isuzu.

"Fine," said Kyo. "Things are getting back to normal."

"Normal?"

"Yeah. When Yuki and Tohru first hooked up there was this kinda cheesy atmosphere around the house. Even Shigure couldn't ignore it, though he teased them constantly about it. Now they're a little less lovey-dovey and back into a normal routine."

I laughed. "Lovey-dovey? I never expected Yun-kun to be so open with his feelings!"

"Yeah, me either. But Tohru has that kind of effect on people."

I smiled a little. I could tell that Kyo was getting over the rejection. He was speaking more and more casually about Yuki and Tohru's relationship and it didn't seem like it bothered him anymore.

"Tohru is a wonder," I said. "It's amazing how positive she can be."

"Don't I know it. Somehow most of the school found out they were going out and those freaky girls in her class sometimes give her a hard time. But she's got that Yankee girl to help her out."

"That's good. I wouldn't want Tohru to face any problems."

Silence followed this, which was odd. Usually we had a lot to talk about in our phone conversations. I knew there were a lot of things I wanted to say to Kyo, but I didn't. I was sure he didn't want to hear them.

"Kyo-kun—"

"You should come over sometime," Kyo said suddenly. "I'm sure it's been boring being held up in that house of yours for a month."

"A little bit. But Hatori wants me to make a speedy recovery with no complications. I have an appointment with him in a few days; I'll bring it up with him then."

"Appointment? Something wrong?"

"No, no. He's just going to check my stitches to see how far along I am with healing." I was kinda surprised to hear the concern in Kyo's voice.

"That's good." The relief in his voice surprised me too. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry. I'll call you after the appointment to tell you what he said."

"Okay."

After the conversation ended, I went to lie on my bed.

What was that? I thought, staring at the wall. He was suddenly concerned for me. All I need is a check-up; I've never heard him use that tone before.

I sat up. Wait…could it be that he likes me? And not just as a friend?

I lay back down. No, it couldn't be. Dammit, I have to stop with this wishful thinking! It just gets me upset in the long run! No, he's just concerned about me as a friend would be. After all, we are close friends. I'd be just as concerned if it were anyone else.

Somehow, this thought only worked to make me feel depressed.

---

A few days later I went to see Hatori for the check-up. Mom came with me to avoid problems, though Isuzu stayed home. I had a feeling Haru was going to visit for a short time while we were gone.

Hatori was as calm as ever as he took off the bandages and examined the stitches. I was a little scared though. I had been careful to take care of myself the past month, but I was afraid of a sudden infection.

"Looking good," said Hatori, calming all my fears. "No infections and the stitches are still in place."

"Does that mean I can take a shower now?" I asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry, but the stitches are too delicate. You're going to have to wait a few more weeks."

Well, you can't always have your way. As Mom and I were leaving I remembered what Kyo and I had talked about. "Hatori!"

"Yes?"

"Um, I was wondering, since I'm healing all right, if I can go visit Shigure's house sometime."

"Kagura—"

"I know I should stay at home in bed, but I want some fresh air and see everyone there." And see Kyo…

Hatori thought about it for a moment. "Let me think about it. I'll contact you about it."

I was a little disappointed that he didn't give me the okay right away, but it was better than 'no'.

I kept to my promise and called Kyo afterwards. It had started to rain and it thundered loudly overhead.

"So everything's okay?" he asked.

"Well, Hatori said he needed to think about it—"

"No dammit, I meant your stitches!"

"Oh. They're still intact and there aren't any infections."

"That's good."

"To be honest, I was a little afraid of getting an infection. But I made sure to take care of myself to prevent that."

Kyo was silent for a long while. I was a little worried that he hung up. "Kyo-kun?"

"Kagura, can I tell you something?"

"Yeah, go ahead. Is something wrong?"

"No, it's not that. It's just that I…"

I waited patiently as Kyo stammered on the other line. My heart was started to pound quickly. Was he…?

"Damn, this is so fucking embarrassing! To hell with it, I—"

Suddenly, there was a blast of lightning and the power went out. I sat frozen as I still held the phone. It was completely silent.

Whatever Kyo was saying, I didn't hear it.

---

I was depressed for days. Sure, the power came right back on but that didn't help my situation. Whatever Kyo was about to say, the storm cut him off. And he didn't bring it up again in later conversations.

After those few days Hatori came over. He wore something of a smile as he addressed me.

"Ayame is causing havoc at Shigure's house again," said Hatori. "I'm heading over to bring him home. But I was thinking that I could stay for a little while longer?"

My heart burst with joy. Hatori was going to take me to Shigure's house!

He didn't drive all the way up to the doorstep this time, but he still drove close to the house. He told me to wait as he got out and he helped me out of the car. I leaned on him for support as we approached Shigure's house. The familiarity of it was really heartwarming. The forest of trees, the wide expansive roof, the laundry hanging out to dry—

Ayame's loud voice echoing the area.

Hatori sighed heavily as he opened the front door. He didn't even bother knocking. Now that we were inside I could clearly hear Ayame going on another speech while Yuki and Kyo yelled at him to get out. Hatori helped me through the house and walked straight to the main room.

"It was a shivering, sunny day. The sun's hot rays reflected off the white snow—" Ayame's voice

"Get out!!" Yuki's voice.

"Get the hell out!!" Kyo's voice.

"Everyone please calm down!" Tohru's voice.

Hatori pushed open the door. "Oi."

"Hatori-san! Kagura-chan!" said Tohru, standing up to greet us. Hatori helped me into the room and I was met by a quick hug from Tohru.

"Kagura-chan!" cooed Shigure, waving to me. "Looking as lovely as ever I see!"

"Are you taking him home?" asked Yuki wearily, motioning to Ayame. Then he turned to me. "I'm glad to see you looking better, Kagura."

"Not right away," said Hatori, helping me sit at the table. "I'm allowing Kagura to visit for a short while."

"'Tori-san!!" said Ayame. "I was just telling them about the senior prank—"

"Get him out of here!!" yelled Yuki. He looked ready to strike.

"Aw, Yuki!! You know you want me around!"

"Don't make things up!! Go home!!"

Ayame went off on his story while Yuki yelled at him to get out. Hatori calmly sat next to Shigure and they went off in a completely different conversation. Tohru was trying to calm Yuki down and prevent him from attacking his older brother.

It was when I noticed that Kyo wasn't doing anything that I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Kyo staring at me with a serious look.

"We need to talk," he said softly.