Chapter 5 - Memory's Pictures
Haru frowned as he rested on his futon, Momiji sleeping soundly beside him, and Ayame forced to sleep by Momiji. Kyo and Yuki had threatened to call Hatori and have him order the elder Sohma away, but the Ox had to burst their hopeful bubble by explaining Hatori had gone out of town to get his medical license renewed. The place nearest them was under renovation, so Hatori had been forced to travel out of town, and wouldn't be back until the next afternoon. In fact, he had told his older cousins, he and Momiji were supposed to be staying the night as well, since Hatori had preferred them stay with Shigure than anyone else. And he didn't want to take a chance leaving them with Akito. They could all too well remember Akito's anger when unleashed. Even Haru had been attacked once, but he didn't want to think about it.
What he wanted to think about was his odd reactions earlier. When Ayame had tried to kiss Torhu, Haru had practically heard Black Haru yelling in anger. But he couldn't understand why. Yeah, he cared about Tohru. Who didn't? Aside from Akito, of course. And Rin and Hiro found it hard to like anyone. And Kureno usually did what Akito told him, and hadn't had the chance to talk to Tohru much, otherwise he'd have been just as protective of the girl as the others.
But still, he couldn't help remembering his actions earlier, and how she had blushed when he called her cute. But she did look cute in that dress. Any healthy male could've agreed to that. He was sure even some healthy females would have agreed. But why was he becoming more protective and conscious of the girl?
His mind fell back to the past times he had encountered her, especially their first encounter. She had been very different from anyone he had ever met. Sure, Shigure had told him that "Tohru Honda" was special, and had been able to even soothe Kyo and Yuki's thunderous relationship. But when he had met her, she had seemed so... simple. She had mistaken him for an old man due to his white hair. So many people had teased him for his hair color throughout his life. It served to piss him off to no end, because then the jokes started. But when she had mentioned it, he hadn't felt the old anger well up. He didn't even feel mildly annoyed. He just passed it off at the time, too intent on finding Yuki and Kyo, people he would actually know.
Haru had even surprised himself a little when, after tripping Kyo and causing him to yell at the girl, Haru had interrupted the Cat mid-tirade to properly point the blame on himself. Sure, he didn't like someone taking the blame for him when it was obviously his own fault, but usually he would have at least let Kyo finish a sentence. But he just didn't feel right letting the damn Cat yell at her. Of course, this led to Yuki and Kyo asking him questions, and he had to admit that he hadn't expected her response when he explained he had been wandering around, lost, for three days. Yuki and Kyo's reactions were what he was used to. The annoyance and resignation from his first love, and the outright digust of his rival. But that odd girl, she had just said it was a wonderful way to get lost.
Which is why he took the chance he did, after he turned black, to bring her into the fight between the Cat and himself. After all, seeing Yuki standing by her, looking almost cheerful, had reminded him how Shigure mentioned the two boys' fondness for her. So he had threatened to try something with her to see if he could piss off Kyo. It worked perfectly, of course, but had it not, Haru wasn't sure if he'd have accepted it. He'd have probably gotten pissed then that Kyo wasn't even going to try and defend her. But he did.
And the simple girl hadn't bothered trying to get into the fight and stop it. In fact, she hadn't jumped into any of his fights, she just stood back, not really approving, but not telling him to stop. Even when he had threatened the class president. Though he had to admit, that was slightly her fault, there.
The president yelling at Momiji had been enough to rile him up, make him annoyed. But once he started in on Tohru, he had snapped and Black Haru forced his way out, ready to kill. And then he had watched from the back of his own mind as Black Haru had proven his natural hair color to the president, and attempted to prove it to Tohru. He hadn't expected Black Haru to try and seduce her, and once he had been knocked back into his own state of mind, he had gladly feigned ignorance.
In fact, he had turned Black a few times due to her. Like when he had overheard some third-years talking about how "that Honda girl was always seen with at least one Sohma" and had mentioned that there was probably much more than a platonic relationship there. With ALL of them.
The third years had been found two hours later, stuffed in a closet and covered with bruises, muttering about a demon who had attacked them out of nowhere.
That had been one of the few times Haru had willingly gone Black, not minding how much damage was done to his senpai. Especially after that little vacation where he had been graced with the sight of Tohru in a swimsuit. He and Rin had been broken up for a while, and she was still refusing to see him, so he couldn't help but notice Tohru splashing around in the water with Momiji, laughing and looking... well, cute. There was no other word for it. Though his comments had gotten him a couple of swings from his cousins.
Just thinking about it had him seeing her in her swimsuit again, and he could practically hear Black Haru cackling in the back of his mind. He knew that Black Haru was his extreme side. Everything White Haru liked, Black Haru adored to an extreme. White Haru liked his martial arts. Black Haru lived to start fights, and end them as the victor. So the fact that White Haru, himself, admitted to liking Tohru, perhaps as more than just a friend, well... Black Haru adored her. He was sure that if his Black side understood love, he'd have been deeply in love with Tohru Honda.
Which, of course, irked both Black and White. After all, he knew the girl held him at an arm's length. It was always "Yuki-KUN", "Kyo-KUN", even "Momiji-KUN". But he was always referred to "Hatsuharu-SAN", just like Hatori, Shigure, and Ayame. Even though no one called him by his full name, she did. But then, he also understood that she wasn't one to take liberties like using a name she wasn't certain she could use. After all, he had been the one to make her start calling his cousin by his first name in the first place, and he wouldn't be surprised if someone told him she had been told to call Kyo "Kyo-kun". But he couldn't just tell her to call him Haru, especially when she looked at him like that, saying his full name that no one else seemed to use. He teased Yuki about calling her "Tohru", but he just couldn't make himself tell her to just call him "Haru."
Momiji wriggled in his sleep, moving closer to Haru as though to get warmer, snapping the young man out of his thoughts.
"Gah!" He muttered, rolling over in his futon and sighing, "I need to just stop thinking about Tohru and go to sleep!"
Two futons over, Ayame smiled very slightly, making a mental note to relay this bit of information to Shigure at the soonest possible chance, then finally allowed himself to drift off to sleep.
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Hehehe.. Haru has a personal conflict going on, but at least he's starting to admit it to himself, right? So how long until he admits it to Tohru? And how will she react then?