Chapter 6
Memories and Freedom's Chance
Rin awoke, stretching her arms high above her head as she slid out of bed and onto the cold floor. It felt like ice compared to the warmth of the bed and covers. Her feet felt around and automatically found her black slippers. She proceeded down the hallway to the kitchen to find Haru already there, breakfast on the table. "How did you sleep, love?" Haru asked her as he scraped eggs onto a plate and set them on the table. "Fine…amazing actually……..where are Kagura and……." Haru interrupted "They went out" He smirked. "Won't be back all day, least that's what they told me."
Rin smiled back and sighed. "Well I suppose we'll have to find some way to entertain ourselves…"
Haru slid Rin's plate in front of her. She was hesitant at first, but then she remembered who she was with.
She picked up her fork and began to eat slowly, taking tiny bites.
"Your cooking still needs work." She smiled at him as she took another bite.
"I know, but I'm working on it….." He looked across the small table at her. "What should we do today Rin?"
She looked at him quizzically for a moment but simply replied. "I have no idea….something relaxing…away from
the main house, just being here makes me sick…" He looked down at the table for a minute then looked back.
"How 'bout we go get some coffee, then take a walk in a park or something….?" He stopped at looked around the room.
"That
sounds good……I just want to be free today, do whatever we feel like…"
She trailed off looking out the window at a passing bird. He smiled. He
loved it when she was in this dream like state, it seemed to make her
so much happier. She finished her meal and walked off back to her room,
Haru followed behind her soon after. She dug through her closet,
looking for an outfit to wear. She pulled out a black tank top and a
short brown skirt and began to undress. Haru didn't attempt to avert
his eyes from a scene he had seen so many times. He merely picked up
his shirt from the floor and pulled it over his head. Rin took a
collection of jewelry and began to put it on. She turned to Haru when
she finished and caught the look he had on his face. He was looking at
her with a face of sincere affection. Her expression softened and she
took his hand.
"Let's get out of here." He smiled and let her lead him out into the daylight.
They walked down a less trodden path to their destination. It went through a large tree grove that was
the length of the entire Sohma estate. It was a pleasant walk, quite and undisturbed by other people out
that day. Rin hated leaving it for the crowded business center they were headed to. Haru took the lead
and steered them into the first coffee house he could find. They seated themselves and ordered.
"I know what we should do!" Rin exclaimed, sounding truly happy to Haru for the first time in so long.
"Lets go on a picnic…." She smiled brightly at him.
"That sounds like a great idea Rin." Haru tried to sound as excited a Rin did, but found it somewhat difficult.
Rin picked up immediately it.
"What's wrong?" Rin asked him, her happy expression fading.
"Nothing, its nothing……I just…haven't seen you so happy in such a long time, I'm trying to savor it."
He smiled at her to reassure her. She smiled back, but still couldn't shake the feeling that something was on his mind.
They finished their drinks and continued on to a store. There Rin bought some food and other things to prepare
for their day out together. Once their purchase was made, she then contemplated where they should go for their lunch.
She didn't even have to ask Haru were he thought they should go, because before she could, he had taken her by the wrist
and was leading her off somewhere.
"Ah….Haru, where are we going…?" Rin questioned him, but he didn't answer before they stopped at a corner.
"I know the perfect place." He did not elaborate, but simply smiled. He continued to pull her in the direction
of some woods off in the distance. Ten minutes later they had reached their destination, or at least Rin assumed
they did because Haru had stopped moving.
"We're here?" She asked slowly.
"We're here." He pulled her up next to him and dropped her arm. She looked out at the view around her.
It took her breath away. They were at the top of a gentle hill, that took a sharp drop off where they were
looking out to. She saw a vast horizon out in front of them. Trees were scattered across the landscape, just
starting to turn colors for the autumn season. She breathed in the sweet sent of pine and all the other forest
scents that accompanied it. Suddenly she began to spin with her arms out at her sides. She felt so free here,
she couldn't hold in her excitement. Haru laughed and watched her carefree dance.
"This place is amazing! It seems so familiar….we've been here before…."
She stopped her twirling and faced him,her head still spinning.
"I hoped you'd recognize it, we use to come here all the time as kids." He looked back out across the skyline.
She walked to him and took his hand in hers.
"I remember now….you use to take me here when I felt really bad…..it would always make me happy again….I love this
place Haru, thank you so much for bringing me here again." His eyes wandered back and met hers again. He looked
at her and saw the genuine expression of joy and thankfulness in her face and couldn't help himself. He leaned down
and kissed her softly, taking her into his arms. She returned the kiss and embrace, holding onto him as if it was the
last time she ever would. When she finally let him go they walked over to a nice grassy area under a near-by tree
to set up lunch. He spread out the blanket and she placed food on it. As they ate, Rin flashed back to her childhood
visits to this place with Haru. She remembered the first time he brought her here was right after she had moved
into Kagura's house, after her parents had abandoned her. He had brought her to this place to cheer her up, and
it had worked. She remembered that it looked almost exactly the same has it had so many years before. The sun high
in a cloudless sky, trees turning shades of red, orange, yellow and brown. It even smelled the same, except the first
time, along with the pine scent, there was the smell of freshly fallen rain. She would never forget it.
They had sat at the edge of the hill's drop off for hours, just staring off into the distance, hardly talking. But
talking wasn't what she needed at that time, and Haru had known that. So instead of trying to make petty conversation,
he sat with her, he just sat and held her hand, a comforting presence to such a lonely girl. That was all she
was back then and even now, a lonely girl, looking for comfort and finding it hard to come by. When she finally
did speak, it was almost metaphorical, something young Haru would have hardly understood at the time.
"Haru…..do you ever wish you were a bird?" He looked at her with his large grey eyes.
"What do you mean Rin?" Her lips turned out a tiny smile, an accomplishment for her at that time.
"I mean…..do you ever wish you could just fly away……from everything, just be free…." She looked back and him,
but to no avail. He simply looked up at her with a sweet, bemused expression. She laughed.
"Never mind……"
She smiled to herself as she came back to reality and saw that very same Haru sitting next to her. Of course
he was older, taller, more mature, he had grown into something she loved with all her being. It was then that
a thought struck her.
"Haru….do you ever wish you were a bird?" She looked at him and searched his face for that cherished memory of
their childhoods. He smiled at her and answered.
"I do….I wish we could just fly away Rin, just be free to leave and never come back." She put her hand up to
his face.
"You remember as well as I do don't you?" He smirked and nodded. He leaned into her hand's delicate touch.
"How could I forget any of my memories with you?" He took her hand in his and kissed it. "My best memories
are with you Rin." She wished moments like these would never have to end, she wished she could be with Haru
always, never interrupted by social strains or those of their family. But she knew that her trips down memory
lane couldn't last forever, the world simply moved too fast for that, she could hardly believe that only weeks
before she had still been locked in the cat room, under Akito's ever watchful eye. She was so at peace now, with
herself, the world, with Haru. Haru picked the opportune moment then to pull Rin into his arms and rest his head
on her shoulder, like you might expect a child to do. Rin leaned her head on his.
"What are we going to do now Haru?" She asked in a low voice while staring off at nothing.
"What do you mean?" Rin knew better than to think he wasn't genuinely confused.
"You know….now that Akito is……dead…..we have a window of time between gods, technically…..we're free…..so, what
are we going to do?" She asked him again more persistently.
"I-I don't know. I'm so use to keeping things a secret, or not seeing you at all….I haven't even been able to
process what's happening right now, being with you, being….free. Its all happening so fast, I can't adjust…"
He answered staring down at her with a blank face. Rin decided she couldn't be upset with him, because she had
the same feelings and she sighed.
"I know what you mean Haru. I'm scared about the future, nothing scares me more, but I was more scared when I
didn't have you, when I was still alone. Whatever happens now, we'll go through it together, because that's
what you do when your in love." She said as she looked up into his eyes.
"I know Rin, and I love you more than anything, and I want to be with you, but I just don't see how we can do
it. Akito wasn't the only Sohma who didn't want us together, what about your parents?" Rin cringed at the mention
of her parents but understood what he was trying to say.
"But that doesn't matter now, my parents have no say what I do anymore, I'm nineteen.…and soon you'll be eighteen,
then we can leave the estate, they can't keep us there, as long as we don't have a god to keep us there. Just wait.
One day; we'll be free to be together." He smiled down at her.
She closed her eyes and managed to fall into a light sleep. She noticed Haru shifting her and lying her on the ground,
but she didn't stir. He packed up their things and then gently shook her awake.
"Its getting dark Rin, we should go back now." She made a groggy noise and sat up still half asleep.
"Oh….Ok….." She yawned and slowly got to her feet. "But do we have to go back home…?" She looked over at
him and his features faulted.
"We probably should go back, I mean….no one even knows where we are, and we don't want them to come out looking
for us." She sighed and grabbed onto his arm.
"I guess your right….." They walked along the quite paths that would lead them back to the Sohma estate, hoping
not to run into anyone along the way, but once they got near Haru's house, they heard a noise from a clearing.
They stopped dead in their tracks, waiting and listening intently for another sound. They heard a sniffling,
crying sound to their right. Haru took the first steps toward the noise, trying to make out if it was human or
not. He pushed some bushes aside and saw Hiro huddled on a rock next to a small stream. Haru was surprised,
and waved for Rin to come over. When she saw Hiro, she immediately leaped over the bushes and walked to him.
Hiro spun around, startled. He had tear stains down his eyes and looked disheveled. He quickly tried to wipe
the evidence of his crying away with his sleeve, but not before Rin saw it.
"Hiro….what are you doing out here? Are you ok?" Haru observed the kind, intent gaze Rin had on her face,
something he hadn't see very often.
"N-no…..I'm fine, I just came out here to think…." He turned away from her with a smug look on his face.
"That's crap Hiro, something's wrong , or else you wouldn't be out here, just tell me what it is….you can trust me"
She waited patiently for him to comply.
"I should tell you, it concerns all the Juunishi……something's wrong, the bond is breaking….." He looked off across
the water, not making eye contact with Rin.
"What do you mean….breaking…..? How do you know?" She reached out her arm and touched his shoulder.
"What's wrong Hiro?" He sighed and took a deep breath.
"The curse….my curse…..It's broken….I'm free…." He stared up at her blankly, tears beginning to stream down again.
"No….but……how?" She turned him around quickly and hugged him tightly, Hiro squeezed his eyes shut,
and in a matter of seconds, a thick smoke surrounded her. Her human form melted away and her horse
form emerged. Haru couldn't believe his eyes. Rin had transformed, she had hugged another member of
the Juunishi and transformed, how could it be possible? He stared dumbfounded at the large black horse
standing idly where Rin had previously been. Hiro continued.
"See….I told you. I found out awhile ago….I was playing with Hinata and….I held her too close, or at least,
I thought it was too close, but I didn't change. My mother saw us, and she come over and hugged me too.
And nothing….She decided not to tell Akito, because she thought it would make him mad…..so we kept it a secret.
The truth is….the curse is weakening, it's breaking….maybe it won't be long before we're all free."
Just as he finished, another puff of smoke brought Rin back to her original self. She quickly dressed and stood.
"This is unreal……How long Hiro….how long has it been?" She asked him.
"Maybe a month or more…it was before Akito died" Rin turned to Haru, a smile spreading across her face.
"This is it Haru….This is our chance….we could be freed….it's not impossible.."
