Authors Notes- Well, sorry for the delay. Las Vegas can take a lot out of a person. This chappy is all in Haru's POV.
What the hell? A fiancee?
I don't know why I am so surprised. She's had a different life, apparently.
It still hurts. She's let me go.
Now if only I could do the same.
The guy came up to me, of all people. "It looks like you were very close with Rireki. May I speak with you about her? I'm sure that you want to know how she has been over the past ten years."
I just nodded, and introduced myself.
"Hatsuharu Sohma. I was her closest friend growing up, and her ex-boyfriend."
We just went off into another room, away from the family.
"As Sasame told you, my name is Kazahaya. Please, if you could tell me about her life before she met us, it would help to fill in the blanks of what I know."
Damn, this Kazahaya is polite...
"I've known your 'Rireki' as long as I can remember. Her real name is Isuzu Sohma, but most call her Rin. She had a rough life, putting it lightly. Her parents abandoned her when she was about eleven years old. They had been abusing her for a few years before that. I was the one that found her when she collapsed from exhaustion from their beatings. After that, she went to live with another of our cousins and her family. Things were okay for her for a while. I started to go out with her when she was 17. But a few months after, the head of our family found out about us, and he did not like it. Out of jealousy and spite, he pushed her out of a second story window. Thats where that scar on her shoulder comes from.
"After that, she broke up with me. At first, I didn't understand. But now I know. She did it to try to protect me. We sort of drifted apart. Meaning, she tried to avoid me, and I would still watch over her. But there were things that I didn't see until too late. Her health became poor. She was often hospitalized. One time when I went to see her, she hit me with her I.V. She got mixed up with the head of the family again, and the heads mother, and for some reason, he locked her away from everyone. This imprisonment lasted almost three months. We had been told that she was in the hospital again, and we knew she hated having visitors, so we just waited for word on her condition. When one of our cousins found out that she was locked up, he went to get her out. But, she was gone. We looked all over the main house, and anywhere she would think to go, and the places that she wouldn't. That was almost over ten years ago. I think its your turn."
Kazahaya just sighed.
"Thats where the Aso's come in. Sasame's father found her wandering about near his shrine. He took her in, and gave her the name 'Rireki'. She lived with him for almost five years, until his death. When he died, one of his grandchildren took up the shrine. Sasame invited Rireki to live with him, and thats when she started working at The End of the World. I met her through Sasame's son, Reita. We didn't start dating until about a year after I met her. We've been engaged for about three months now. Then, I'm afraid that you know the rest of the story. I still can't help but wonder why she would react in such a way."
Polite, yes. A thinker, no.
"I think I know. She didn't want to remember her life as Rin. She just freaked out, kinda that flight or fly thing. She was trying to run, away from her old life, and the things that reminded her of it. When a person gets that desperate, they usually don't pay attention to the things around them, let alone traffic."
We were silent for a minute, until the door opened.
"Mr. Ikenoyama, Mr. Sohma, I have news on Miss Sohma-Aso's condition. She is out of surgery, but there is still the risk of post-surgery complications. We will allow visitors once she is settled in the ICU. I think that the two of you, along with Mr. Aso would like to be the first to visit her?"