Chapter 5—Afternoon visitations

"Haru, Haru! Come quick!"

Haru looked up from his homework to see Hatori running into the room. It had been a month since he had first met Lila; a month of early morning walks to school and afternoon trips to the park. Lila had become his closest friend this past month and it made him truly happy.

"Hatori, what's wrong?" He had never seen Hatori this frantic before.

Hatori leaned over, resting on his knees. "A-Akito wants to s-see you…now!"

Haru paled and stood up quickly and quietly. Something was definitely wrong if Akito wanted to see him. He pondered over what Akito could possibly want to see him for, but nothing came to mind, except Lila. He suddenly felt sick to his stomach as he walked into the main house and towards Akito's chambers. What if Akito had somehow found out about Lila? What would happen to him? What would happen to Lila? His mind raced as he knocked lightly on the door and waited for an answer.

"Come in."

He immediately heard Akito's quiet, but demanding voice and he opened the door and walked in to see Akito sitting by the window, gazing at the door.

"Hello, Hatsuharu. Please, come in. I am so happy to see you."

Maybe it was the chillness of his voice or the look he gave Haru, but Haru highly doubted that Akito was truly happy to see him.

"Please sit down, Hatsuharu."

Haru walked slowly towards Akito and sat down. His hand was shaking and he could not stop it. He looked up from his hand to find Akito sitting directly in front of him.

"Do you know why I have asked you here, Hatsuharu?"

Haru shook his head and responded. "No, Akito-san."

"I have asked you here because it has come to my attention that you have been keeping a secret from me. I have been told, by someone who will remain nameless, that you have made a new friend this last month. A Miss Lila Aso, I believe? What troubles me, Hatsuharu, is that you felt the need to keep this friendship a secret from me."

Haru paled and began to speak, but Akito silenced him with a wave of his pale hand.

"So, I began to ask myself why you would hide this from me; and the only conclusion I could come to that seemed reasonable was that Miss Aso found out. Am I correct?"

Haru looked at the floor, not saying a word. Until, finally, he looked up at Akito and nodded. "Yes, she found out."

Akito smiled slyly and stood up, moving over to Haru. "That's what I thought. Hatsuharu, it pains me to hear that. On two accounts, it pains me. One, that you would lie to me and two, that you would be as foolish as to trust some pathetic outsider,"

"She's not path—"

The words were cut off by the pale hand of Akito swinging viciously across to backhand him. "Quiet, insolent fool! You dare speak to me? What would a worm like you know about anything…anything at all…?"

The words were a whispered hiss of utter contempt. Akito moved behind Haru, jerking his head back painfully, his nails raking into the tender scalp.

"Did you really think you could keep it from me?"

Unexpectedly, Akito released his grip, and Haru almost fell from the chair. Quiet, malicious laughter echoed around the room. In the long seconds following it, Haru watched Akito's hand as it rose again. The blows that followed were pain upon pain, washing over him and leaving sick, retching ache deep in the part of his abdomen.

The blood dripped unnoticed from hiss broken nose and mixed with the spit that drooled from the numbed side of his mouth. Haru spat out the broken bits of took and probed the jagged edges gently with his tongue. With great difficulty he focused on the evil face before him.

"But you didn't learn it from me, did you…?"

Akito's own face was unreadable as he drew back for a final blow and a vast blackness roared up to meet Haru. A thin whisper sparkled through the darkness, like a snake chasing Haru as he teetered on the edge of consciousness, "Fool, all roads lead to me…" Akito's laughter was swallowed in the greater darkness that covered the world and mercifully, the pain as well.

HL

"Hi, Risu…Are you feeling better?"

Lila quietly walked into the crisp, almost too-bright, hospital room. She had been there almost all day and she knew she would be back the next day. The day before she had gotten a call from Risu's mother saying that she was in the hospital. After school, she rushed to the hospital. After school, she rushed to the hospital to find the room almost deserted, save for an old woman who was sitting in the corner, her knitting needles steadily clacking away, never ceasing. The woman didn't look up from her work, never acknowledging the presence of someone new.

When Lila walked into the room today, she immediately heard the soft clicking of the old woman's needles. Again, the woman paid no mind to her. If it weren't for the clicking of her needles, Lila would've thought the woman dead.

"Hi, Risu…are you feeling any better?"

Risu looked slowly over at her, trying to smile, but she was too tired. Lila smiled softly, "No need to respond. I brought you something." She walked over to the bed, taking a seat in the cold, uncomfortable hospital chair. She opened her bag and pulled out a thick, worn book whose title read, "Emma" by Jane Austen.

"Your favorite. Would you like me to read some to you?" Risu shook her head, whispering softly, "No…I need to sleep."

Lila nodded and moved toward the door but stopped when her gaze fell on the old woman. She walked over to her cautiously. "Umm…hello." Lila took another step towards the woman, who still did not direct her gaze towards anything but her knitting.

"Umm…I'm Lila, Risu's friend…"

She furrowed her brow as she took another cautious step towards the mysterious woman. "Are you Risu's grandmother?"

The old woman nodded, never ceasing, never diverting her gaze. "I am."

This statement worried Lila. In the entire time Lila knew Risu, there was never a time she could remember that other relatives visited Risu.

"Are you here to stay?"

The woman finally looked up and Lila took a step back. Something about her eyes took Lila off guard, and not just because one was blue and the other was green. There was something about her gaze when she looked at Lila. It was like she was gazing into her innermost being.

"I stay for as long as I am needed."

Lila nodded, and then looked back at the woman. "And how long will that be?"

The woman's eyes fell onto hers and again Lila felt like the woman was gazing into her soul.

"That all depends on you, my dear."

Lila paled and walked backwards, towards the door, before turning around and running out of the hospital. Something about that statement scared Lila and she didn't like it. On the way home, Lila's mind raced as she tried to comprehend what the old woman meant. Why did it all depend on her? She felt queasy and turned around, walking back the other direction towards Yuki's house, hoping with ever fiber of her being that Haru was there.

A/n: Ok some might get mad that I didn't use a Japanese book…but the friends in this story are based on three of my real life friends and Risu is based on my friend Christina and her favorite book is Emma so that is why it is in there.