Chapter Eight

Black Jack approached the door, lurking quietly behind the corner. He could hear Pinoko whining in frustration as she hurried to fix her hair and make last minute adjustments to her gown. He chuckled to himself.

"Pinoko." He knocked on the door. "Come on, the pastor's waiting."

"Black Jack!" she shrieked in fear and then something fell over with a loud bang. "Oh…!"

He shrugged his shoulders and then opened the door and entered the room. His view of Pinoko was obstructed by her fluffy white dress covered with ribbons. She was picking up a lamp that had fallen on the floor but had thankfully not broken.

She turned and then saw him standing there, and his eyebrows rose. Pinoko had always been pretty before, but today, as any bride should look, she was beautiful. Purely and simply beautiful. Her reddish brown hair had been braided and twisted in an up do, with two strands curling around each side of her face. Her gown had soft pink little ribbons and white lace that made her look like she was glowing. Her makeup made her eyelashes thick and long and black, and her cheeks were rosy and sweet.

"W…" he couldn't even get the word "wow" out.

Her eyes widened in fear and she covered her mouth with both hands. "Acchonburike! Black Jack why are you in here!"

"Something fell over so I came into help. And also, the pastor is waiting…"

"Oh no! No, why did you come in here?" she groaned dramatically, freaking out.

Black Jack tilted his head in confusion. "What? What's wrong?"

"This is bad luck, you know! We're not supposed to see each other till we're at the altar…" she looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Pinoko, Pinoko, calm down." He came up to her and took her hands, giving them a squeeze. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Don't you want us to be happy and to start off on the right foot? No bad luck?"

He smiled at her. "Why don't you focus on today rather than the future?"

"Because…" she sniffled a little. "I want to be a good wife and make you happy."

"You've always made me happy. Don't worry about it." He leaned in to kiss her and she blocked him so that he kissed the palm of her hand.

She grinned impishly. "Ha ha. Can't kiss me till after we say our vows at the altar."

"Alright. Then let's get to the altar."

She nodded, and then he exited. She wiped at her eyes a little, and then followed after him.

Black Jack's mind was whirling. It had happened very fast. The police and the firemen and the ambulances had come. He had watched as they put out the house, and he sat there, shaking violently. Someone had put a blanket over his shoulders, but that didn't help him much at all. The investigators had worked late into the night and onto the early morning to try to uncover the mess and dig up the bodies, but with all the rubble, they reported that they were less than successful.

He closed his eyes and tried to get this awful scene out of his mind. But whenever he did, Pinoko and Yukia were there. He let out a strangled sob and buried his face in his hands. They were gone. No longer would he wake up and hear Yukia's little feet stepping eagerly across the floorboards to the kitchen to see them in the morning. He would no longer hear him call him "Papa," and wouldn't get to see him grow up and be a surgeon. And Pinoko…

There were more things that he would miss with Pinoko. While the bond between a parent and child is strong, Black Jack hadn't been Yukia's father for too long. He had more memories with her.

He would no longer see her watching him with that sweet smile on her face when he woke up in the morning. He would no longer feel her gentle, soothing touch. He would no longer hear her voice, calling him "Chenchei," or "Kuro'o" when she was concerned, or saying "I love you."

Her last words to him had been "I love you." And he had just mumbled back his response. It was ironic, he thought, how now he would kill to be able to respond to her with a cheery voice. It was funny how he was going to miss the little things the most.

After a couple more hours had passed, they had finally called off the investigation. A couple of detectives apologized to him, and murmured that they were sorry for his loss. He was so numb that he couldn't even say what he wanted to say: "Piss off."

When they were all gone, he got into his car and turned on the ignition. He contemplated whether or not he should drive off the cliff and just end it right now. Hopefully he would find them somewhere. But he decided against it, because then there would be no one left to mourn for Pinoko and Yukia. So instead he turned towards the town.

Black Jack holed up in an inn for the next couple of days, and eventually the word had spread. He received numerous concerned calls from his colleagues, begging him to respond. He didn't pick up. He just wanted to be left alone.

As for the funeral arrangements, he decided that there wasn't going to be one. The last thing he wanted to do was return to the Hazama family grave, where his mother buried, and now his wife and child? No. There wasn't going to be a funeral. There weren't even any bodies to bury.

He tried to get something to dull the pain. He drank a lot, but that didn't help. It only made him sadder than ever. He tried sleeping, just crawling into his bed and dozing off for hours…but he always woke up wondering where Pinoko was.

A week and a half later, Black Jack drove back up the cliff towards the ruins of his home. He walked around it sulkily, his whole body hunched forward. He kicked at the rubble in his path, and listened to the sound of the gulls, and the ocean waves licking at the side of the cliff.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw something peculiar in his path. He bent down and saw a small picture, one that was burnt at one corner and covered with a thin layer of smoke. He picked it up and wiped away the smoke, and his heart skipped a beat.

It was a picture of Pinoko holding up Yukia, the both of them looking absolutely delighted as they stood in front of the Ferris wheel. Black Jack smiled at the picture, and in a split second the smile wobbled uncontrollably, and then in another second, he was crying.

He cried for a very long time before he heard the faint crunching of gravel as tires rolled up the hill. If it was the Jaakuna Gyangu, he didn't care. They could kill him. He didn't have anything left to live for.

"Black Jack?"

His eyes widened. That was a very familiar voice. He turned around and saw Konomi, standing there looking incredibly distressed.

"Black Jack… I heard but I… I didn't believe it…"

She looked around in shock at the scene, grief stricken. She pressed a hand over her mouth and her eyes looked slightly teary. Black Jack stood up, pressing the heel of his hand into his eyes, and releasing a shaky sigh.

"I came as soon as I could." She murmured, coming up to him.

Konomi was still as beautiful and icy looking as ever with those blue eyes of hers. She approached him hastily but cautiously. When she reached him, she placed a hand on his shoulder. He pulled away.

"Please. Don't."

"What are you doing here?"

He shrugged his shoulders and walked ahead, not wanting to say anything more. Konomi hung her head a little and walked behind him.

"I… I had no idea that Pinoko was pregnant, Black Jack."

"What?" he demanded, turning around.

Konomi was startled by his severe tone. "The papers. They said that there was a child involved… you never…. You never said anything about a child…"

"He's not ours. He is… He was… adopted," he responded. "Why are you here, Konomi?"

"I'm here to help you." she surveyed the area again uneasily, and then looked at him. "Black Jack. Come on, let's get out of here. Where are you staying? I'll take you back."

He blinked and mindlessly followed after her towards her car.

A/N: Well hello again! Okay, so this chapter kind of ended on a "pbbt!" point, let's face it. But it gets a little more dramatic, and then I promise, important stuff that will progress the plot along is going to happen.

Just wait a couple of chapters. Read and review as always!