"I think I went 'black' on Leiko today," Haru deadpanned as he healed his boots off. He followed Yuki into the house that he and Tohru shared. The house was small enough for three people to live comfortably and was built on Shoma land near Shigure's house.
"What do you mean, you think?" Yuki asked as he dumped his briefcase on a desk in what Haru assumed was the study.
"Well I sort-a blacked out and the next thing I knew Leiko had knocked me on my ass and was running off shouting about how I should be medicated before I could talk to her again."
"What set you off?" Yuki smiled at Tohru who had wondered into the study.
"Haru!" Tohru rushed over to Haru and was obviously resisting the urge to tackle the younger man in a hug. "It's so good to see you again! What do you want for dinner? Whatever's your favorite! It's a night to celebrate!"
Haru couldn't help but smile at Tohru. It was good to see her again after so long. Maybe Yuki was right, maybe seeing everyone would help out, because for the moment it didn't hurt as bad. Not when she smiled like that. Tohru had a special place in all the hearts of the zodiac and Haru was no exception.
"Whatever is fine," Haru said his smile fading ever so slightly. "I don't mean to impose."
"Oh no!" Tohru shouted waving her arms about. No, Haru mused to himself, Tohru hadn't changed a bit. "You're not imposing!"
"Then why don't you surprise me?"
A thoughtful expression settled on her face and Yuki looked up from a few tests that he had pulled out of his briefcase. "Have you seen Leiko? She ran off after lunch and missed a test."
"She came home about an hour ago and went up to the roof. Then I think she went to her secret base. Or, maybe she went to the dojo?"
"No, she goes there Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday," Yuki said as he stuffed the tests back into the briefcase and then looked up at Haru. "Speaking of Leiko, what do you think of her?"
"Oh yes Haru," Tohru looked at Haru with conflicting expressions of excitement and anxiety playing across her soft features. "What do you think of her?"
Haru sighed and let his gaze wonder to the window. One thing was for sure; she wasn't Kyo. But he wouldn't want her to be. She was enough like him though to bring about fresh waves of heartbreak in the blink of an eye.
"She's different…" He began and looked back at his older cousin and his good friend. "I donno, she's not Kyo but she's a lot like him. We talked on the roof for a bit. And…I donno, I told her that for the moment I'd like her and then she…" Haru's eyes flashed. "Then she told me how you'd been telling her that I was crying like a girl after Kyo died."
Tohru sensing the impending danger of Black Haru pulled the cow out of the room and told him that she need him to go get Leiko from her secret base and that she couldn't do it because of dinner and Yuki couldn't do it because Leiko didn't want "that damn rat" to know about her secret base and she was sure that Leiko wouldn't mind if Haru knew about it. In the blink of an eye Haru had his boots back on and was standing out in the backyard.
"Just follow the path here," Tohru instructed knowing of Haru's terrible sense of direction and his habit of getting uncontrollably lost. "She goes there at least once every day so the path is pretty worn out." Tohru gave Haru that smile that made everything seem so much brighter. "It really is good to see you again. I'm glad you decided to come and visit."
Then she was gone, humming to herself as she went back into the house to start his "celebration dinner". Haru let out a deep breath he didn't know he was holding and started down the path Tohru had pointed out to him.
The path cut through a patch of forest that grew increasingly denser the deeper he walked into it. After a few minutes of mindless strolling Haru began to hear Leiko's voice drifting from further along the path. As Haru got closer to a clearing he could see Leiko lounging on a tree branch above a headstone.
It was Kyo's grave.
A lump began to rise in Haru's throat. He hadn't been to the grave since Kyo had died. The funeral had been just too painful. Unlike most memories concerning Kyo, Haru had been able to block out the memories of the funeral. He wasn't ready for those to resurface. As they began to creep out from the years of repression Haru beat them back down. Only snippets escaped before he got everything under control again.
The sea of people dressed in black…
The empty faces of those shaking his hand and offering their condolences…
Akito's face slightly peeking out from behind a fan, a grin lighting up his features…
It took Haru a minute to realize that Leiko was talking to Kyo. She was telling him all about her day, all about everything.
"Oh yeah! I met your cow today," Leiko exclaimed suddenly perking up. "He seems pretty cool I guess. I mean I can see why you'd like him. He's pretty hot. Freaking moody though! I mean what the hell is up with his damn mood swings! They're like worse than PMS. But whatever…he misses you a lot. I can tell. Besides the fact that just looking at him you can tell he's giving off this super sad vibe, but he doesn't seem like the Haru in Yuki's stories…
"Speaking of that damn rat. He's really starting to get on my nerves! One of these days I'm going to get him to fight me. Damn it even if I loose at least I'll have won in some way. I totally had a passive aggressive win today though. That was a plus. But I skipped out on a test. Like hell I was gonna take it after pissing him off. Last time I did that I got a damn F, 'member?
"Oh yeah, and I was on the roof when I ran into your boyfriend again." Leiko sat up on the branch and crossed her legs. "He said he'd like me until further notice. But I donno, I mean…its like why trust him? I mean I know you liked him and that's good I guess but still…everyone else has bailed on me at some point or left me down, why get my hopes up?" Leiko was silent for a moment before she went on. "But I guess if I don't expect too much out of it I can't get hurt as bad if he decides to change his mind. No need to get attached anyway…not with graduation and my birthday coming up at the end of the year and all…"
Haru paused, knowing that if Leiko knew he was there and had been listening she'd knock him on his ass again and then some. However, he wasn't sure of her just finding him standing there would be any better. Haru was mildly surprised that he cared, but non-the-less he didn't want to prove her right. He wanted to show her that he wouldn't be like everyone else, he'd protect her the way he failed to protect Kyo.
"What are you doing here?" Leiko's voice snapped Haru out of his daze. She was looking at him through wary eyes. "How much did you hear?"
"Nothing really," Haru said with a shrug. "Mostly mumbles…"
"Are you medicated or something? I wasn't kidding last time, you're like uber-psycho when you…do whatever."
"When I go 'black'," Haru and Leiko started walking back towards the house. "That's what the other's call it at least." Leiko glanced over at him and squinted her amber eyes.
"Because I'm the ox, and they're black and white…" Haru said slowly. A scowl flashed across Leiko's face.
"I knew that," she snapped. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Leiko spoke up again. "So, Yuki says you're gonna stay through New Year's. Is that true?"
"Why? Do you care if I stay or go?" Haru asked smirking. Now that he knew the Leiko wasn't expecting him to really stick to his word about liking her he wanted more than ever to prove to her that he wouldn't let her down. If he thought about it hard enough maybe he was getting a second chance.
"I donno, maybe." Leiko kicked at a pebble and let out a deep sigh before looking up at Haru and smiling. "But if you do stay and go to that damn dinner you gotta bring me some of those honey deserts. I stole some last year but Akito found out…"
Haru felt the pull of Black Haru at the back of his mind. Akito, that son-of-a-bitch who had laughed when his kitten had died, it wasn't fair. Akito didn't deserve to live, it should've been him…
"Aww damn, there you go again," Leiko muttered as she tossed her hands up. "You and you mood swings! You damn bastard get some Midol or something!" She punched him hard in the shoulder and glared at him. "You're also going the wrong way you damn cow. Yuki said you had a bad sense of direction but this, this is just ridiculous…" Leiko continued to rant on about Haru and his personality problems and how she didn't care if it wasn't his fault and he should have some form of self control and…Haru smiled as he followed her back into the house where Throu and Yuki were waiting, Yuki with an impish smirk on his face.
As soon as Leiko found out that Thoru had prepared leeks for dinner Leiko proceeded to climb up to the roof where she swore she was going to jump off. That was until Throu made Leiko rice-balls all with salmon and one with a plum. As the night went on and things settled down Haru realized that he had missed this. Maybe it was time for him to come home.
NOTE! Gods, finally an update. Believe me I've been working on this for a while. See, its hard for me because I want to keep Haru in character and I just have to think about it a lot and it takes a while for me to get it from my head to the computer. So, very sorry about not having updated since January, I know the feeling of wanting to keep reading and not being able to. Also, thanks so much to all of ya'll who have reviewed and those who haven't (though I wish you would), and in respects to the story I donno how many chapters this is going to be but I'm pretty sure it will be less than ten. I know how its gonna end and what all is gonna happen…but yeah, I don't want Haru to get OC so it might take while. That and I'm about to start college and I donno how that's gonna impact the story. But keep a look out and I'll keep working! THANKS AGAIN!
