Disclaimer: Gravitation or it's charas are not mine, but that of Maki Murakami-Sensei
Pairings: Tatsuha/OC (Hitomi) (dun worry, no self-inserts or mary sue-ness)
Warnings: POV, teeange/adult issues, romance, angst - life in general is a warning, may contain SPOILERS if you have not read Gravi book 12
Author's Notes: Awesome! Chapter 5! Yay! Shorter than my other ones, but I wanted to keep it within the realm of...uh...this part of the story? Yes, yes this part I'm finally getting back into the groove of this, so hopefully it will come out well
UNBETA'd again, because I am teh lazy and really need to catch up with these chapters.
And thank you for all the wonderful reviews! It makes me happy to read them and really inspires me to continue writing! Huggles to all!
Chapter 5
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Some part of me was flattered – yeah, it was nice to know that my loving family cared enough. No, really…I honestly didn't think it would cause that much of a fuss. Hell, if even Tohma was in on the act then they were getting desperate.
Hitomi let me see the entire article – it carried on further in the newspaper. There was a picture of Tohma and my sister talking to the press while trying to get to their car. Tohma looked composed as ever, the undeniably self-controlled President Seguchi. But Mika, man…she looked upset. Really upset, but more at the press. She looked really…sad.
And if that didn't make me feel guilty as all hell then I don't know what did.
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The room was thick with silence. The paper lay on the living room table, not forgotten. Tatsuha just stared at it, at the picture of himself and family. Hitomi had her forehead in her hands, shaking her head and rubbing her temples to try and sooth the oncoming headache. But it was the silence that was unbearable. The silence was impossibly loud.
With perhaps a sense of pity, the young woman finally lifted her head, confused hazel eyes turning towards the boy in question. Tatsuha barely shifted his gaze to meet hers. He was expecting some harsh words about then, raised voices, the whole deal. That's what it was like at home, at least, and Tatsuha knew he deserved every bit of it right then.
But all he heard was a soft, sad sounding question of his name. "Uesugi?"
The dark-haired boy nodded in response.
"So, you lied." It was stating the obvious, but Tatsuha gave her a courtesy nod as well. "Sixteen…" To that, he looked down at the floor. "Argh, I can't BELIEVE this!" New strength in her voice found, Hitomi all but jumped to her feet. Tatsuha felt very small right then.
"Do you have ANY idea what could have happened?" He didn't respond. Hitomi took an angry breath in, turning away and stomping towards the window. Before she made it, the woman spun around, pointing an accusing finger. Tatsuha watched the morning sunlight make her well-manicured nails shine as they pinpointed his mistakes.
"You could—I could be arrested! You…you lied and didn't even think about what if everything went wrong? Did you really think that your family would just sit back and do nothing? Are you that naïve?"
Tatsuha winced at the sharp edge of her words, turning his eyes down a degree. "Yes," he said, realizing how self-pitying that sounded.
Hitomi's frustration was released when a hard, stinging slap was dealt against Tatsuha's right cheek. Dark eyes wide with surprise, Tatsuha just held his position, face turned from the force of the blow. He deserved it.
"You…"
"…"
The hand that hit touched the growing redness gently, before two arms came to wrap around his neck. Letting out a sigh of relief he didn't know he was holding, Tatsuha carefully returned the embrace.
"I'm sorry…I didn't need to do that."
"No," he breathed into her shoulder, comforted by the strands of hair that rose off her back with his breath. "I deserved it, and a lot more."
"…Yeah, you're right, you do." But Hitomi's unmade-up lips gave a slight curve to that. Hearing it in her voice, Tatsuha was able to smile back, looking past her shoulder towards the window and the growing daylight. "I just wish you would have told me the truth…"
Tatsuha pulled back so he could watch the woman and gave a snort of amusement. "Right. Like you would have done the same thing?"
Hitomi opened her mouth to respond, then reconsidered. "No, you're right. But…I don't know. It's just…" She let the words fall away, watching the man – no, the young man, the boy that she had been allowing to live in her house for the past few weeks. In her bed. "Can you at least…I think I'm entitled to know why you left in the first place? And why all the way down here?"
Tatsuha averted his eyes again. His hands were resting on the small of her back, and he let his thumbs slowly massage the curve there. When he was able to look back, she appeared more composed and waiting to listen.
"I wanted control of my life again." The words slipped out easily, and Tatsuha paused to really think that over. That was the bottom line, wasn't it? Or perhaps it was something a bit more childish. I wanted them to want me back. "I didn't like the future that was planned out for me and I didn't like the…I hated the fact that my family didn't give a crap. They're always too busy and too preoccupied with something else. I was sick of all the shit that built up, so…I left. I came here 'cause it was far away enough for me."
It was Hitomi's turn to look away, unsure of how to respond. But when she returned her attention to Tatsuha, those soft hands began to run through even softer, short black hair.
"I'm sorry, baby." Tatsuha just shrugged. "You know…that you can't stay here anymore."
He froze a bit at that, but wasn't surprised. "Yeah, I figured," he said bluntly.
The sudden response hurt a little, but Hitomi knew he was still young. Much younger than she had thought. "But—" that caught his attention "—I want to help."
Tatsuha felt bad at hearing that. "No, it's okay. Sorry. You've helped enough, and I appreciate it—"
A petite finger silenced the teenager's lips. "Really. You can't stay here, but maybe there's somewhere else I can help you get to?"
He watched her carefully. A long moment passed, the air seeming tense. Tatsuha gingerly pulled her finger away, but didn't let go of her hand. "Why do you want to help me so bad? I thought you'd tell me to go back or something."
This time Hitomi shrugged. "You kept your secrets long enough, Tatsuha," she said with a small smile. "Let me have mine too."
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She never did tell me why she was so damn intent on helping me. I still don't know. But she did suggest me going to see my family or trying to reconcile differences and all that crap. Yeah, we had a few more fights in the last few days I was there, but I know I couldn't have gotten anywhere without her.
I mean it. Hitomi was able to kick my butt into gear after moping about the article. I never went back to work 'cause they'd know who got to star in one of their best selling issues.
But yeah, she helped me figure things out, get stuff arranged. The more she did it too, the more she reminded me of Mika. And damn I was really beginning to miss her, nagging and all. Eiri too. I saw him on TV the day before I left – he was promoting the new paperback release of a book. The question did come around to the disappearance of his now infamous younger brother. But, in classic Eiri style, he said,
"That's none of your business."
Yup, just blunt. Short and sweet.
I couldn't read him. I really wished I could. Most of all I wanted Eiri to be worried, too. Mr. Cool-no-feelings-face-but-I-like-to-fuck-pink, all mighty best son of all time! No, I really wanted him to worry, 'cause I worry about him a lot. The whole family does. All the time.
But even the hope that Eiri could care didn't stop me. I was about to embark on what would be a big life change. Fucking HUGE life change.
And either the best or worst decision of my life.