10/12

Haru's under-eyes felt raw from all of her excessive crying.

She sat nestled comfortably on the living room sofa, watching with diluted interest as people trailed in and out of her home. Policemen, servants, business associates of her father's… each of them with a different purpose, but moving along the same path for the time being. As long as it served them, she supposed.

That pathway being her house.

She had already been interviewed by Sae Niijima. The woman was focused and beautiful, much like her younger sister, but she seemed very… stressed out. She constantly held her head between her hands, not once making eye contact with Haru as she interrogated her.

"Did your father ever receive a calling card from the Phantom Thieves?" the woman asked.

"Um…" Haru hesitated. "Not that I know of, but he probably wouldn't have told me even if he did…"

"You two weren't close?" Niijima questioned. When met with silence, she glanced over at the crestfallen expression on Haru's face, blinking a few times before shaking her own head. "Sorry. That's not an appropriate question. Moving on…"

Haru promptly answered every inquiry to the best of her ability up until the topic of Sugimura inevitably arose.

"So now you're to be moved in with your fiance, correct?" Niijima queried. "You're only seventeen, that seems a little young… But this was the arrangement even before your father's passing, right?"

"Um…" Haru wasn't quite sure how to handle this subject. It was true that her father had ordered her to move in with Sugimura, and she never once planned on protesting, but… Mere hours before he died, her father had told her so many outrageous things. She wouldn't have to live with Sugimura, she wouldn't have to marry him… that little taste of freedom was something entirely foreign to her. It felt close enough to touch, but then for her father to leave before the announcement was made public...

"If there's something I should know about, then tell me." Niijima's tone was not kind, nor patient.

"Right before the conference, um…" Haru's voice trembled. "My father told me a lot of things that contradicted previous statements. He said that my fiance and I were done, and I wouldn't have to get married or move in with him."

Niijima furrowed her eyebrows. "And you were the only witness to those statements?"

"Um, yes."

"I'll look into it, but the Sugimuras have been very adamant about keeping their little arrangement despite your father's passing. They say they have documents, contracts, legally binding statements to retain your engagement. We were able to allow you one extra day before moving in, and even that proved to be difficult…" Niijima sighed. "I have some things to get back to, but before I leave… No, nevermind. Thank you for your time, Okumura-san."

Haru attempted a polite bow before the woman fled, but Niijima was rather quick on her feet. She was a busy woman, after all.

A stagnant frown stained Haru's face as slowly she melted back into the soft sofa cushions, watching the activity amongst her former house-turned-crime-scene. A lot of her furniture and necessities were being shuffled out and into the moving trucks parked in her long driveway. Their destination? Sugimura's home, of course...

Before she was able to simmer long in her little pool of misery, a vibration from her phone alerted her.

That's strange… Haru remarked internally. I could have sworn I set it on silent…

When she flipped her phone screen over she was surprised to see that she was receiving a phone call - from Akechi, of all people. He had texted her a few times throughout the previous night and early morning, but Haru hadn't been in much of a mood to reply amongst the hundreds of other messages she'd received; they were mostly from people that she had never talked to before, anyways.

Haru pressed the cell phone to her ear, emitting a meek, "Hello?"

"Yes, hello, Haru," Akechi sounded just as pleasant as usual, a tinge of sympathy lacing his voice. "I really hope I'm not overstepping any boundaries, but um - I thought you could use a friend, so, erm… I'm here."

"Here?" she repeated dubiously.

"Yes. Here as in at your house. But of course I can always leave if you - "

Haru blinked. "Oh, I'm so sorry! You must have messaged me, but I haven't been on my phone, you see… Just wait out front and I'll come to escort you in." She was actually thankful for the distraction, and considerably flattered that Akechi had taken time out of his busy days to come visit her in a time of strife.

"There's no need to apologize. I'll wait."

Flittering down the stairway, Haru had to contort her body out of the way of various workers rambling through her home. Upon exiting the front entrance, she was greeted to the sight of Akechi holding a lovely bouquet of white and yellow chrysanthemums.

He offered them towards her. "Here, Haru, for you. My condolences."

"Akechi-kun, thank you so much…" her eyes watered disobediently, blinking away tears as she shook her head. She was very aware of how complete a mess she already looked: eyes swollen and puffy from nonstop tears and turnabout emotions the last twelve hours had brung.

Akechi pulled her into a hug.

Once inside, Haru ushered her friend towards the spacious outdoor balcony, far enough away from the eyes and ears of people bustling within the walls of her home.

"It's quite busy in there," Akechi remarked.

"Yes, it is. There are my own servants, Sugimura's workers, business associates, policemen…" she tallied them off one by one, following with a heavy sigh. "I apologize. I haven't gotten much sleep."

"Ah, of course. It's fine." the young detective nodded. "I've been doing some research myself, concerning the Phantom Thieves' involvement in this situation."

Haru looked over to the staggering view of skyline that graced her terrace. "I still haven't been able to wrap my head around that. Why, of all their victims, did they choose to kill only my father…?"

Akechi was silent, then when words spilt they were quiet and sincere. ""I'm sorry that happened. I wish that it hadn't. I... don't think it needed to."

"Me neither." Haru agreed, another wave of sadness washing over her as she recalled those horrifying events straight from her memory of the press conference. She shuddered.

"By the way, Haru…" Akechi glanced around as if to assure himself that no one else was around. "I saw that there were moving trucks outside your home. Are you relocating?"

Her jaw clenched at the mention of a subject she had been trying desperately to avoid, even inside of her own mind. "Um… yes, I am."

"I see. I suppose it makes sense, not wanting to live within walls holding memories of your father. Will you just be leaving temporarily, or…?"

Haru couldn't quite meet Akechi's eyes as she spoke. "Permanently, as far as I know. It's actually something I've been meaning to tell you for some time now."

"This was planned beforehand?" there was surprise lacing Akechi's voice.

"Yes, um…" Haru swallowed her spit. "I'm moving in with Sugimura tomorrow. It was supposed to be today, but he gave me an extra day in light of recent events…" When Haru finally worked up the courage to look over and gauge her friend's reaction, she was frightened by the absolute stillness of his figure.

"I - " Akechi partially opened his mouth, then closed it again. "Why didn't you tell me this?"

Is he angry with me…? Haru thought, silently cursing herself. "I guess I… didn't want you to worry?"

"Yes, but your father, I - his heart was changed before, wasn't it? Didn't he call off the marriage beforehand?" Akechi sputtered out a mess of words, his gaze turned frantic.

Haru furrowed her eyebrows. "He was going to do it after the press conference… how - how could you know that…?"

"I told you I've been investigating," Akechi spat in a much harsher tone than she had ever heard him use with her. "Haru, why didn't you tell me about this? I could have - I could have - "

"Could have done what?" she questioned aloud. "This is my fate. I've already accepted it; I've known all along how my life would turn out. I'm not like you… I'm not intelligent, or charismatic, or destined for any greatness at all… All I've ever been is my father's tool, and that's all I ever will be. A dainty little instrument in the grand scheme of Okumura Foods. Nothing could have ever changed that, not even my father's death."

"This shouldn't be happening. He should have done it before the conference. I can't believe this has happened…" Akechi muttered, shaking his head in clear distress. He then paused, slowly raising his gaze upwards with a look of astonishment on his face. "Haru."

She nodded at the addressment, though slightly unnerved by her friend's strange behavior. Akechi ventured further in, moving from his position a few feet away from Haru to standing directly across from her, placing his own hands firmly on her small shoulders.

A blush disobediently rose to her cheeks. "Akechi, I - "

"Haru, I can fix this." he spoke endearingly, slowly, as if trying to convince her.

"Fix… what?" she responded dubiously.

"I can make it so Sugimura will never bother you again. Never speak to you, never lay a finger on you. The very thought of forcing your hand into marriage will never again cross his mind." a growing excitement swelled within Akechi's voice.

Haru felt uneasy. "How would you do that?"

He avoided answering. "You just have to trust me."

"How would you do that?" she repeated, this time more firmly.

Akechi suddenly scowled. "What - do you want to marry him? Do you want to spend the rest of your life with that bastard? Pumping out children he'll never give a shit about? Getting beat up every time you don't follow orders? You know that's how he would treat you, right?"

"Stop it!" Haru cried out, pulling herself from his grasp and covering her ears. "How could you say that to me? I thought you were my friend!"

"I am!" Akechi's voice rose considerably in volume. "That's why I'm offering to save you from that kind of life!"

Tears were billowing in Haru's eyes as she turned away. "Save me how?"

There was a slight pause. "I can get rid of him."

"Oh, my God." Haru shook her head, swatting his hands from her shoulders in disgust. "Don't even joke about that."

"I'm not joking." Akechi said firmly. "Haru, look at me. You don't deserve the trouble that man will bring to you. And there's only one solution."

She refused to turn her head.

Akechi sighed. "Please, will you let me help you? All I need is an answer. A yes, and then I'll do it and we'll never talk about it again. Things will go back to normal for you, for us. We can still - "

"No. Get out of my house."

"Haru, please, you need to reconsider. I'll - "

She looked him in the eye one last time, her glare as menacing as it could be with the gloss of tears brimming in her eyes. "I said leave!"

Akechi's face stiffened, examining her as if to survey her credibility, before his eyes steadily dropped to the ground. He slowly opened the sliding door that led to the inside of Haru's home before slithering his lithe form through. She watched him walk down the driveway and disappear through the front entrance just a few minutes later.

Haru Okumura felt something pull deep inside of her, a cord she had not known existed being burnt at the edges. She mourned not only the loss of her father but that of her one and only friend.