Chapter 11- Oceans

He sat in the pew and stared at the large statue of the crucifixion that was suspended over the altar, his eyes unblinking as he took in the loving detail that had gone into portraying the hideous pain that the man had suffered. He shuddered at the realization and lowered his head, his long hair covering his face and effectively hiding him from the rest of the world. He knew he had been hiding, these long months, taking his time going to the church and back.

He knew that he deserved her raging at him. After all, he hadn't been doing his work as he was supposed to for months, leaving it neglected and into the hands of others that although were doing as good a job as he was, still let certain things slip through the cracks.

Certain things like the flight and subsequent disappearance of Kyoko and Hatsuharu Sohma.

He allowed a small smile to curl the corners of his mouth as he recalled how enraged she had been that they had managed to do what no one in her life had managed at that point: to get away and actually grasp at an elusive bit of happiness. It wasn't that he enjoyed seeing her thwarted or in pain. Not at all. After all, that had been the reason why he had given in and stayed with her in the first place, when she had been nothing more than a hysterical girl. But he couldn't keep making himself blind to her faults, her selfishness and her misplaced callousness.

No. She needed to see that she was hurting people with her destructive meddling of their lives. She needed to realize that sooner or later, they would snap the reins that held them hemmed in. Three had already snapped their leashes. They all were waiting with barely hidden anxiousness to see who would be next. If the signs were as right as he was reading them, they wouldn't have to wait that long.

He allowed the smile to grow even further under the curtain of hair and clutched at his beads once again, making himself notice the biting hardness of the ebony rosary as he went through the novena for what was probably the seventeenth time in that night. So lost was he in his prayers that he failed to notice the second figure sliding into the pew until a heavy hand landed on his shoulder, making him jump and nearly fall off the polished wood of the pew.

"Don't you go anywhere else?" the soft voice whispered in his ear once he had regained his seating and straightened out his rumpled clothes.

"Occasionally." he muttered back as his hands played with the rosary, making the beads click softly as he slid them through the soft pads of his fingertips.

A snort and then the shifting and moving of a body as the other man tried to find a more comfortable post on the unyielding wood underneath him.

"I don't understand why you come here. It's not like you did anything to the girl." the other man murmured as he finally settled for leaning forwards and resting his chin on his arms.

"It's true. But I was the one that hired you and the one that watched her as she begged me to help. I didn't do anything, but I am still guilty by association. You don't feel that guilt. So I suppose it is only fair that I do."

"You'll only drive yourself mad, Kureno." the other man replied as he moved to slump onto the bench.

Kureno shrugged. "Fair punishment then. The girl went mad. It would serve me right. Now if you don't have anything else to say, I suggest that you take your last payment from the back of the charity box and leave. And if you breathe any of this to anyone ever, it will be the last mistake you ever make."

A harsh laugh met his ears as the other man hung over the pew Kureno sat at.

"What if I don't do any of the above?"

He found out soon enough when in a blur of movement Kureno was behind him, the crucifix wrapped around his neck tautly, making every breath he took a struggle.

"Do you really want to find out?"

(Line Break)

Hatori stood by the open patio door, the cigarette in his hand seemingly forgotten. He was lost in thought as he stared out at the garden that was now in full bloom, the foliage clearly benefitting from the October humidity. A letter sat on his desk and so far, he hadn't glanced at it since he had read it the first time. He didn't want to relive the sickening feeling that had settled in the pit of his stomach when he had.

"You couldn't have stopped her." Tohru's voice pulled him out of his morbid trance, but he didn't make a move to give an indication that his thoughts had changed.

"I could have, but she would have hurt you." Hatori finally replied as he then tossed the cigarette with perfect precision into the ceramic jar he kept on the porch for such a purpose.

"I know. If it was simply me, I could cope with the physical pain." Hatori finally turned around and smiled a brief smile at the girl who stood in front of him. With sure movements, he pulled her forwards and lightly rested his hands on the smallish bump rounding out what had been an almost concave belly.

"But it's not." was the unspoken implication between them.

"Have you warned them that she's coming?" Tohru asked as she tilted her face up to his to receive a kiss. Hatori nodded before lowering his lips down to hers.

"I did. But I don't underestimate her. She is shrewd when it comes to getting her revenge, even over things that there is no point in dredging up any longer." Hatori replied once he had finished kissing her and rested his chin on the top of her head, all the while wondering how he had been so lucky to have been blessed by having Tohru come into his arms and into his heart.

He guessed it was when they had all worked together to help Kyoko and Haa-kun flee that it had started. Or maybe it was the impetus needed for him to make the first move towards the woman that had been filling his thoughts ever since he had seen her. They hadn't hesitated after plans had been set into motion. Once Kyoko and Haru had been safely ensconced in Nagasaki, they had given in to the quiet passion that had sprung up between them. Shigure had pretended to not notice the consummation, but he had been serious when he had made sure that his cousin would make sure to take care of her and to make sure that she would achieve what her mother had put so much stock into before she died.

Things hadn't changed between her and the family. Not even when she had unexpectedly ended up pregnant not even a month after the summer holidays.

Hatori tried his best to not strangle Shigure when he had given his oldest friend the news. The dog had had a field day hooting over his cousin's misfortunes, despite being sickeningly sweet to Tohru and flirting even more than he usually had. Hatori had screwed up. Despite being so careful to always use condoms when he slept with her, she had managed to get pregnant. So he put up with the dog's behaviour for longer than he usually would have under those circumstances.

Somehow, Akito had gotten wind of her pregnancy (Hatori cursed himself for his carelessness at leaving his cabinets without more secure locks) and had threatened to harm her unless Hatori gave her Haru and Kyoko's whereabouts.

Knowing he had no choice, he had given it. And then promptly contacted them to flee as fast as they could to Seoul before she got herself anywhere near them.

"I hope Kyoko-chan and Haa-kun are safe." Tohru murmured as she laid her head on Hatori's chest.

Hatori blinked his burning eyes and hugged his wife even more tightly. He wanted to express the same wish, but he had never believed in giving anyone false hope. So he remained quiet and hoped that was enough to comfort his love now.

(Line Break)

Haru rubbed at his eyes, willing the grittiness to go away. He had been awake for what felt like a lifetime and longed to go sleep for an extremely long time. But that wasn't possible. Not when Akito was on his tail and he had a wife and a practically newborn child to take care of. They had planned to go to Seoul, but there simply wasn't enough time. Hokkaido was the safest bet at that point, so that was the route that they took.

The train was going to be there in a few hours, but even that small amount of time felt like it was too much. He may have risked flying, but not with the baby being as fretful as it was at that time. He didn't want to add another burden to Kyoko's head, since her entire being was focused on taking care of the child and in a small way, taking care of him as well.

She was the one that directed him places and dragged him along when they switched trains or had to get supplies from the wretched little stores around the stations. His sense of direction had completely shut down in Nagasaki and had gone even worse now that they were on the run.

He breathed out a sigh of relief when the announcement was made that they would be in Hokkaido shortly. Maybe then they would have time to catch their breath and get away from the nightmare of having to dodge Akito's wrath.

He wasn't going to lie to himself and or tell Kyoko that things were going to be fine when they reached the northernmost island, because he didn't know. But he wasn't going to passively take anything that Akito would throw at them. Not when there was a couple of blood debts to settle between them.

"Penny for your thoughts, kiddo?" Kyoko whispered as she leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder. He turned and buried his nose in her hair and breathed in her unique scent of sweetness and herbs before he finally formulated an answer.

"A bed. My kingdom for a bed." He murmured sleepily, making her snort in quiet laughter lest she wake up the snoozing child resting in her arms.

"Soon." She replied in a very low voice. "I hope we can stay there for awhile. It's too difficult to be on the run with a baby." She laughed softly and then fell quiet. Trust Kyoko to find the humour in such a situation.

He expected her to say something else, but after several moments of silence, her breathing evened out and he could tell she had simply fallen asleep. She needed it and he once again felt the familiar pang of guilt that has attacked him ever since he literally pulled her out of the hospital and took her to train station. She doesn't blame him for it, even though she's probably still suffering from giving birth. She runs with him, knowing that if she doesn't, she isn't going to have the chance to see her child grow up. But it still doesn't ease the guilt.

He frowns and rubs at his useless eyes again, deciding that maybe he too, should go to sleep when the train finally churns down to a slow crawl and then a full stop and the announcements say they are in Hokkaido.

(Line Break)

She'd smashed everything in the house and she'd still not worn out her rage. Kureno only watched her through the curtain of his hair. There was nothing for him to do but wait until she had finally worn herself out so that he could take her home.

She had stopped screaming, thankfully. She only snarled out incoherent noises and tried to destroy even more things...but everything was broken and it was simply making her look pathetic. She had lost and she knew it, but she simply wouldn't admit it.

She wanted to continue to search for them, despite not having a clue as to where they would have gone. That was what she was screaming at him to as she clawed and begged him.

Kureno only stared at her impassively until she had worn herself out before gathering her into his arms and letting her sag against him. Once that had happened, he picked her up and carried her out to the waiting car in the driveway.

Once he had gotten her settled into the car, he started the engine and pulled out of the driveway, his mind only on the long drive that they would have to make back to Tokyo.

So focused was he on the drive back that he didn't notice the car partially hidden by the shade of a particularly large tree. Nor did he notice it begin to follow him once he manoeuvred the car out of the driveway.

(Line Break)

Kyoko stepped into the bathroom and stopped to look at herself in the mirror. What she saw didn't impress her. Her skin was too sallow and pale and her breasts looked too full and worse, they were leaking milk despite having had fed Hikaru earlier. Her hair was greasy and her face looked like she hadn't sleep in a week.

She wrinkled her nose and turned away from the mirror. Maybe a shower and a bath would do her much good.

Nodding to herself, she stepped into the cubicle and turned on the water. As she stood underneath the warm spray, she began to feel her carefully constructed façade crack. She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself, but that didn't stop the trembling or the sobs that were trying to tear themselves out of her throat.

As the tears began to fall, she realized how tired she was at that point. She had literally been yanked out of the hospital two days after having gone through a horribly painful birth and set on the run. She understood the necessity, since she was sure that Akito would lock her up in the cage if she got a hold of them, but she was still resentful and exhausted and in pain.

She hadn't shown it to Haru, but she hurt badly. Not to mention the fact that the bleeding hadn't let up like the nurses had promised. Even now she could smell the blood as it dribbled down the drain.

Sobbing quietly, she sank down onto the tiled floor and brought her knees up to her chest.

As she watched the blood rinse clear, another thought hit her hard.

It wasn't just the fucken blood, she realized as she started to rock back and forth. It was also a shamed sense of relief that was making her emotional at that moment.

Hikaru was Hatsuharu's son. She had cried with harsh gratitude when the child was put into her arms and Haru's own sleepy cow eyes looked up at her from that tiny face with its fuzz of brown hair. She wanted to tell him, right after everything had settled. But she had been too tired. And the tests took up all of her time. And then the news had come, so there hadn't been time.

The tears strengthened at that thought and she clawed her arms. She had to tell him as soon as she walked out of the bathroom. He had a right to know.

(Line Break)

The car was going too fast on those roads. The fact that they were slick with rain didn't help matters any. He hadn't counted on a nearly torrential rain coming down and making the roads slick. Too slick. He tried to be careful and not too drive too fast and also not lose sight of the car that snotty Sohma was driving, but it's a tall order.

Even more so when the Sohma wasn't able to avoid the tree that has crashed in the middle of the road. The car, despite the safety features built in, crumpled. As he watched it, he realized too late that his own car isn't that well built. He swerved the wheel, but the car didn't respond smoothly and it too crashed.

The steering wheel caught him in the chest and crumpled his rib-cage on impact.

He gasped and tried to pull air into his lungs, tried to ignore the high-pitched screams coming from the other car, tried to ignore that his heart was quickly ceasing to beat. But he can't.

It all goes silent then.

Notes- Once again, I do apologize for the time between updates. I'm pretty much consumed by work recently and also an annoying spate of writer's block prevented this from being written out earlier. This is the penultimate chapter, and I hope that questions have been answered well enough by this one and the next that will follow. Thank you for reading despite the gaps. Cheers!