A/N-Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait! XsweatdropsX School has been crazy! But now were out for the summer and i'm posting another chappie! Yay! To clear some things up: Ren is Akito's mother...and...that's pretty much it: P The next chappie will be posted shortly...sorry for all the shortness but this story is spiraling downward...(lol) But it's starting to get more into the plot now instead of them just talking about their feelings & whatnot, so your probably happy (I know I am!)
Oh, and...Haru won the plushie poll! Erm...but Rin was a close second: )
Disclaimer: Um...see first chapter...? (I can't remember if I put one...XCofX)
He slept restlessly that night until he couldn't stand it anymore and finally gave up on any sleep that he may have gotten and went to sit on the cushion that was placed underneath the open window that was letting in a cool summer wind.
Clothed in nothing but a pair of boxers printed with images of little horses on them, he shivered against the night's breeze, but made no attempt to right this discrepancy; Instead he stayed there, his expression solemn and his eyes staring out at the seemingly gentle world that he had been borne into; The world that had caused him so much pain. Without pain, there could never be happiness, he knew. But it was hard to remember the good times when the bad ones swallowed you up until you started to think that you might never feel any joy ever again.
It was a hollow, empty feeling that he'd carried around even before all of this began. He had felt it whenever he had went to visit Yuki with Rin when they were little kids, after Yuki had been beaten by Akito. It was not a good feeling, and he knew that Rin had more than her share of feeling that way. To protect her meant more than he could ever say, and at one point he had even believed that he had lived just for that reason.
"No!"
The scream rang out across the dojo and sent a sickening chill down his spine as he quickly bolted up, instantly recognizing the voice. He looked all around, searching for his pants (A/N-See? It makes sense now…xD). After finding said pants, he dashed toward the room that Rin was currently staying in an almost trance like state, his feet moving automatically to where he knew that she would be.
Flinging open the door, he paused, seeing her there, her brows knitted together as if she were thinking of some horrible nightmare and trying to decipher it. Her face was so exposed, like pictures hanging openly on the wall as he just stared at her, sitting there, more vulnerable than he had seen her in a long time. He stepped toward her slowly, not wanting to alarm her as she finally noticed his presence, her eyes widening in fear and desperation as they almost immediately took on a look of anger. But her eyes had already betrayed her true feelings….he paused, remembering how everyone he had ever loved had wore that same countenance at one point. It hurt to see her look so…ashamed of her feelings. Her feelings for him.
She seemed to grow more violent with every step that he took, yelling things that he knew she didn't mean but that hurt all the same. Things that she had said back at the hospital, when she had broke up with him before. He had to do this, though. Every step that he took symbolized another barrier that he was beginning to break down, slowly but surely. He knew that she didn't want that to happen….but he still continued. He knew she was becoming weaker, and maybe it was just her current state that made her act so vulnerable, but he would use it to his advantage. That's all that he had left to do.
And then he had reached her…reached out to her, watching her eyes for a sign only to find haunting memories and demons that were all too real to them wallowing in the black depths. His touch…his fingers, gently caressing her smooth skin, lightly pressed to her cheek…It was enough to make him go insane. He had missed their closeness, had missed touching her, had missed…her.
He lingered in the moment, forgetting himself to only her and how she was so…beautiful, even now. She always would be to him. It was a tender moment, but they couldn't afford any of those, as she all too well reminded him with a slap that sent his head reeling. As she screamed and he quietly slide the door shut, he felt like he was closing a lot more than that. For it wasn't the slap that had hurt the most; It was the numb ache that accompanied the feeling of losing what he had worked so hard to maintain.
Haru sat up, blinking, not noticing that he had woke up shirtless in the middle of the hallway until he had gotten dressed and washed his face. "How did that happen?", he mumbled, still not fully awake as he walked around aimlessly with a blank look on his face, trying to find the kitchen so he could make him and possibly Rin (If she wasn't still mad at him) breakfast.
"Oh. That's right…last night…Rin….", he muttered as he stopped walking, standing there troubled in the middle of the living room. He had hoped it was some bad dream…but as he looked down at his hand, it tingled with warmth like only Rin's skin could make it do.
He twitched as he stared at his hand, looking up after noticing the all too unusual quietness that seemed to lay over the whole dojo like an eerie blanket. Getting a sense of overwhelming suffocation, he realized with worry that he hadn't seen anyone since this morning, either. He felt lost in that living room that seemed to be getting smaller with every passing second. His mind screamed out in caution as he started walking hurriedly toward the room that Rin was staying in on the other side of the dojo. His hurried walking soon became a full out run as he heard sobs coming from that area of the dojo. He stopped at the paper door, afraid of what he would find yet more afraid of what he wouldn't.
Gathering up his courage, he slid the door open, revealing Kazuma standing by the open window, sobbing freely. The room was a mess. Rin's bed had been overturned, and the walls were covered with blood; it stained the light carpet a dark brown in splotches that were littered haphazardly around the small space. Glass was laying on the floor as well from the windowpane that had been broken, and the pink curtains were still in the morning's humid day. The books that had been sitting neatly on a row of shelves had all been pulled down and thrown across the room, adding to the broken scene. Other than the room being ransacked, everything was there; everything except Rin.
Haru stood in the doorframe, observing all of this with a concerned and somewhat scared countenance. He rushed over to Kazuma who had stopped crying but who still seemed very upset and took him by the shoulders, shaking him.
"Where's Rin?", he asked frantically as he realized what he was doing and let go of his robes, waiting for him to say something.
Kazuma turned away from him, staring at the solemn room as a few more tears trickled down his cheeks.
"What' wrong?", Haru asked more softly this time, putting a hand on his shoulder to turn him back around so that he was facing him.
"I shouldn't have left her alone here", he whispered, his face showing the pain that he felt.
"What happened to Rin? Where is she?", Haru demanded more fiercely.
"She…she wasn't even supposed to be here. I was never supposed to help her, but I couldn't just…And I tried to do what he wanted, I really did…I never wanted her to get hurt", Kazuma muttered, looking down as more tears slid down his face and left marks on the white carpet.
"Just tell me where she is! Did you do anything to her? Was it….Akito?" As he said that, he felt something drop in his stomach as if by saying it aloud it could make what he just said a reality that he hadn't thought about before in his dazed state.
Kazuma was silent and looked away from him.
"No…no…no no no no no!", Haru screamed, hitting anything he could with his fist. "Why can't he just leave her alone? WHY!", Haru had turned black now, his emotions overcoming him as he glared at Kazuma. "This is all your fault! ALL YOUR FAULT!" He swung his fist at him, fully aware that Kazuma could block him easily, but it never came and Kazuma landed on the floor. He didn't make a move to get up as Haru rushed outside to the Main House to find Rin.
"It might as well be my fault…", Kazuma muttered as he laid there from his position on the floor. "I couldn't stop him."
