It had been several days now, since Akito had passed away, and the elaborate funeral that had been planned for him, was set for that night. The juunishi, even Kyo, were expected to attend and perform a special ceremony bidding farewell to their god. Now that Akito was gone, it was safe for Rin and Haru to spend more time together, in fact, Haru had just about taken up residence perminantly at Kagura's house, in the empty bedroom next to Rins'. They were too afraid to admit it, but life was more blissful and carefree for them now, then it had ever been before. Having to go to Akito's funeral, was almost like a deadly reminder that they still belonged to the Sohma family. Soon another god would be born, who would resume an unexplainable control over them once more. Rin tried to shake these feelings of dread from her mind as she found herself, once again, dressing in formal kimono. This one had been custom made for her, for just such an occasion. Ayame had made all the juunishi formal clothing for Akito's impending funeral several months before it even happened. She slipped it off the hanger and held it out at arms length to admire Ayame's work. It was a simple black background, with silver and white embroidery threads weaving up the hem and around the body of the kimono. It was simple, yet elegant, although it was only to be worn on very important occasions, it was still by far, her favorite. Kisa and Kagura had similar ones, but neither of them appreciated them nearly as much as Rin did. It took her only a matter of minutes to dress, now that she had had practice. She emerged moments later in the front entrance way, where Kagura, her mother, and Haru were waiting for her. She walked up to Haru, also formally dressed, and they left the house hand in hand.
The arrived at the main house not ten minutes later, to find that the rest of the juunishi, except Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure, had already arrived. Kagura's mother left them then to join the rest of the immediate Sohma family. As tradition had it, Akito would be cremated before the entire assembly of people. The juunishi would prepare his body, bring it to the altar, and light the fire that would turn his delicate, lifeless body into a collection of ashes. When Rin, Haru, and Kagura found the others they hurried to join them. Haru looked over their small group. He saw that Kureno was still solemn and silent, dressed also in formal robes, waiting to prepare Akito's body for departure. His eyes then drifted over to where Hiro and Kisa were. They stood together amongst the huddled crowd of older juunishi. Momiji stood not far from them, with the saddest look Haru had ever seen on his face. It was obvious to Haru that he was trying to make himself appear older and more mature than he usually did. Then Haru saw Ritsu, Hatori and Ayame quietly greeting Shigure, Yuki and Kyo, who had just arrived, with Tohru following behind. Tohru was somber and quite, clad in a plain black dress. When Tohru caught sight of Rin, she smiled weakly and Rin could think of nothing to do but smile back. Then Tohru was ushered off by Shigure to join the crowd of mourning Sohmas. When Shigure returned, he, Kureno, Ayame and Hatori left again, this time to prepare Akito's body to be brought out in front of the waiting assembly. Ritsu lead the slow procession of Junnishi out to the platform where Akito would be Cremated. They sat in a semi-circle around the make-shift altar where Akito would be placed. Now the god's body was being brought out on a kind of polished wooden slab that had handles for the carriers to hold. Kureno was at the front, Hatori and Ayame in the middle, and Shigure carrying the last handle. They walked in at slow pace to the altar and proceeded to slid the wooden slab onto it. Underneath the slab, there was already several stacks of logs to keep the fire burning underneath Akito's body. The wooden slab was barely more than an inch thick, just thick enough to support Akito's frail form. Along the edge of the altar, small amounts of burning fluid had been sprayed on the exposed wood and kindling, to make the fire light faster. All the Juunishi were handed a lit incense stick by a near-by servant. Now Kureno, Shigure, Hatori, and Ayame took their seats and waited for their turn to light the fire that would consume Akito. They had all been instructed before that they would go in "proper order" or the order in which their zodiac animal presided. This meant that Yuki was first. He got up slowly and moved to the alter where Akito's lifeless body lay. He held the tiny embers on the end of his incense stick to the kindling and waited for it to ignite. With the help of the lighting fluid, a small fire was born and grew out of what seemed to be nothing. Haru was next, leaving an anxious Rin sitting beside his empty seat. He had a look of utter contempt on his face as he lit the wood and kindling above Akito's right shoulder, but he tried to hide it. He returned to his seat and the slow, dreary parade continued on. As the last zodiac member took their seats after lighting a part of the fire, Akito's body was now hidden behind a wall of golden flames, their glowing emphasized by the darkness around them. The Juunishi remained seated and quite as they watched the body of their god, turn to ash. Now members of the Sohma family began to walk up, individual at first, but then in a kind of line, to Akito's burning body. They whispered prayers as they passed, both to Akito and to the Juunishi. This continued for what seemed like hours before all that had come to bid farewell had. It was now that the juunishi were allowed to leave. The funeral had started at seven o' clock PM, it was now past ten and they were all exhausted, more emotionally than physically. Rin and Haru got up to leave, having to wait only a minute for Kagura to join them. The feeling in the air about them seemed to be the same, they all felt uncomfortable and wanted to get as far away as possible, as quickly as they could. This sentiment however, was not shared by Kureno. While the others filed out, he remained sitting on his cushion, waiting for the last of Akito to burn into ashes. None of the others said a word to him as they passed, but merely continued on their way. With Kagura following, Rin and Haru led the way home. Rin, feeling unusually safe, clung to Haru as though he were her only means of life. She attached herself to his right arm and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked. Now, during this time in between tangible gods, Rin finally felt that they were truly alone, free to express their feelings, if only for a short time.
Upon returning to the house, Kagura and her mother clambered immediately off to their bedrooms, not to be heard from again until morning. This left Rin and Haru on their own for once. Too tired to actually do much of anything but sleep, they decided to do it together. Haru half led, half carried Rin up the stairs to her bedroom. She undressed and redressed in her flimsy pajamas within seconds while Haru only removed his shirt. He lay down beside her and she instinctively cuddled herself against him. He lifted her chin up gently so it was level with his own. Rin took the initiative and brushed her lips against his softly, as if to tease him like she had so many times before. He deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue against her lips, seeking entrance. It seemed like so long since they had kissed like this. Deeply and passionately, filled with love and a touch of lust. Rin brought her hands up to Haru's face. She placed them on his cheeks, feeling their heat of his flesh against her icy palms. The contact made Rin shiver all over. Shuttering against him, made Haru pull her more tightly against him. She settled against his bare chest, honestly too tired to carry on with anything more than sleep. She let her heavy eyes close, seeing only Hatsuharu's gently smiling expression as she drifted off to sleep. Haru's smile was genuine as he looked down at Rin so comfortably settled. It seemed to him that this was truly how their lives were meant to be lived, together, simply enjoying each other's company, simply being together. He knew it was all that he needed in life to be happy, but he wondered if it was what Rin really wanted too.
