AN: This story is a short ficlet of 8 chapters, and my beta-readers and I agreed that it is very slow to start off with. This is another of those kind of chapters I'm afraid, were we learn more about Tomoko's situation and what led her to being where she is now. It has to be done, so warning about OC history in this next chapter - it is angst-y and not too bright.

Chapter 4 onwards is when the story really starts to take off, so please bear with me so we can get the stage set for that first. R&R politely please, enjoy!

~ WBR

BetaRead: - 02/09/12

Awakening: Part 3 – Broken…

Green eyes twitched as the skin around her cut pulled tight, gritting her teeth together when Tanaka strapped the final butterfly strip into place. It stung after the blonde's fingers retreated, and Tomoko had to sit on her hands to prevent her from touching it. Distracting herself, she watched the scruffily dressed nurse bustled over to a side cabinet.

"I didn't hear Kazuo-kun mentioning how you got so banged up" Tomoko could hear the disapproval in the twenty eight year old's voice, reprimanding even though Tanaka knew nothing of the incident.

"He didn't" Tomoko replied, keeping her head to one side as to avoid those hawk-like eyes.

"Ack!" she could feel those eyes burning holes into her back, and it made her shudder involuntarily. But her mouth remained firmly shut.

"No, this stays between me and those two seniors till I figure out what is going on"

Tanaka's sigh was far closer than she'd expected and sent the teen's shoulders ridged; a familiar face appeared in Tomoko's vision. The nurse had a large flesh coloured plaster in hand, along with a packet of antibiotics and a new antiseptic kit in the other. Sepia irises snared hold of green ones and Tomoko couldn't help but feel dreadfully guilty for keeping secrets…more secrets.

"I don't like where this is heading, Tomo-chan. You've only been here a few months and you're already pulling away from us" as if in response the brunette did just that, shuffling a little away from the older woman. Tanaka's eyes flashed with frustration, the urge to grab the teenager and shake some sense into her was overwhelming, but the blonde knew it was of little use.

"Kanzou-kun and otouto-kun have been talking about schools, you know" Tomoko could hear the rustling of plastic as the nurse placed the medication and antiseptic inside a bag, and tried to focus on that. This conversation was going somewhere she didn't like, "Okasan has also been doing some investigating as well"

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" the brunette grumbled, her fingers beginning to twitch from unease. Her heart was thumping painfully loud in her chest, and was beginning to hurt her ears. So when a firm hand caught her chin and she found herself eye level with the Tanaka's impressive bust, Tomoko felt her hysterical giggling threatening to erupt.

Tanaka eyed her for a moment, gripping her chin more tightly to prevent the teen from escaping. When satisfied, she let go but pointedly watched Tomoko whilst she opened the plaster packet, "Your brother wants you to go to the local high school. Nothing fancy – he knows you'd prefer it"

At this Tomoko snorted, but paled under the withering glare she received, "He knows I don't want to go back at all"

Again, the teen's chin was captured and pulled so sharply that she had to grip the table top in order to keep her balance. Tanaka's attention was back on her patient's cut, carefully positioning the plaster upon the side of Tomoko's forehead. The skin retaliated with a sharp throb that had the brunette hissing.

"And I believe he's right. There's no running from what's happened" Tomoko's grip on the table grew intense, her knuckles turning white. She had to physically bite her tongue to stop from snarling at the woman, but her eyes didn't hesitate in showing just how angry she felt, "Just listen"

The frayed hoody Tanaka wore brushed against Tomoko's arm as the nurse hopped up onto the table beside her. The teen refused to look at her, flexing her aching jaw from the tension.

"You're not the only one who's been affected by the split. Though he wasn't there when it happened, Kazou-kun hasn't been taking it well either" the very mention of that…'taboo' subject had the Tomoko's shoulders tensing, her head turning defiantly to one side.

"The investment your father and he shared in the Bridge Bar meant everything to Kazou-kun. It was a way of Rijou-san showing his love for your brother. To have that torn away from him, by a woman who already hated him so much was a massive blow"

"Mum didn't do that deliberately!" Tomoko growled, but was unable to look up from where she hung her head, "But…..but she never did except onii-chan as her own"

She could see the outer shell of defence flaking away, and Tanaka used it to her advantage. Her arm came out and round the younger girl's shoulders, surprised to find them quaking. She could see no tears, but she knew that Tomoko was struggling with the subject – and her temper. The brunette hesitated, unsure of what to make of the move. Instead, she slumped under the sideways embrace and continued to listen in silence.

"I know that you were alone in that house, despite both your parents being there" her fingers played with the Tomoko's long bangs, Tanaka's voice becoming somewhat distant as she remembered her last visit to the Okida residence in Osaka.

"The rowing, even though the walls you could hear it. Oka-san had such fire and passion in her voice when she shouted. I guess it got all bottled up inside her when she had to play the big boss at work. Her words were like poison to Rijou-san, I remember going down in the morning and finding him collapsed in a heap of beer cans" Tomoko shared a weak laugh with her cousin, her temper residing for the moment.

"She'd stormed out, suitcase and all. Oto-san was heartbroken, he'd pleaded for her to stay, that he'd give up the gambling, and the booze, pay the debts…get a new job. Anything for her to stay with him…he really did love her" Tanaka rested her cheek on the brunette's head, her sepia eyes glazed over in sad memories.

"I'd never seen Rijou-san in such a mess, even when Oba-san passed on. My dad was just as broken then, but he was always the stronger brother…so to see Rijou so….so…" Tomoko's hand crept into Tanaka's free one upon her lap, both squeezing tight.

"I heard you, you know…at night, speaking" the brunette's cheeks paled, her hand going limp within her cousin's, "At first I thought you were on the phone, but the phone company had cut the line after the bills weren't paid. Then I thought someone was in there with you, a friend, Heidi-chan from your school…but…she said she'd not heard from you in weeks…"

"It was the last few days before I came back here that I heard you crying in your sleep, the day the divorce had been officially filed. I sat outside your door; all night…I thought to myself, 'what would I be feeling in her shoes?' But nothing came, I couldn't…didn't want to think about it. It's selfish, I know, but I couldn't…I couldn't find the courage to open the door and steal you away with me"

She was shaking again, violently this time. Tanaka could feel it as the teen strained against her arm, as if trying to distance her from what was being said. The nurse felt the same reluctance, the same dread she had on that horrible night. It crawled across her skin as a strangled cry sounded from the brunette in her arms. But Tanaka steeled herself….and force her eyes downward.

A trail of hot tears streaked down Tomoko's cheeks…

"Oto-san had obviously not come home; he wasn't in when I got up the following morning. So….I left before you woke, ordered a taxi to the airport before the sun was up. It was suffocating in that house, to the point I could bear it…I had a thought of taking you with me, or at least saying goodbye…but the phone starting ringing, and I freaked…"

"It wasn't till later, sitting in the airport café that Hakashi-okasan text me. She been the one phoning, got no answer and had taken the opportunity to take you before Rijou-san got back…her text was short and sharp…and I knew she'd never forgive me for leaving you behind"

Tanaka's hand dropped Tomoko's, winding round her other side and forcefully pulling the teenager into a bear hug. Her breathing hitched, the brunette's tears cold against the nurse's bare neck and cheek. The blonde screw her eyes shut to prevent the treacherous welling of fluid behind her lids, she had to be the girl's anchor here…she'd been incapable before – she had to make up for it.

"But I couldn't tear out one of the remaining pieces of Oto-san's heart…you were as much his child as Kazou-kun. To do something so…so cruel would have killed me…But leaving you was just as hard, I felt like I'd betrayed you, both of you" the nurse's voice was breaking, but she continued, "Hakashi-okasan had to do what she did. She'd had lost the man she fell in love with and that had hardened her heart. She wasn't prepared to let her only child suffer as she had"

"Those months with your mother must have been hard, I-I can't imagine…truthfully, I don't want to. From the little your brother could learn from your phone calls, we assumed you'd been left with your mother's secretaries. The legal crap must have eaten up her free time, I know when we were called to court that she'd invested a lot of time to clear her name and fend off Oto-san's….shadier dealers"

"…" she didn't expect a reaction from the silently weeping teen; Tanaka knew that Tomoko had no idea how to deal with the mental baggage she'd gained from the entire ordeal. This was the only way, them chatting; it would hopefully ease the tension that had built between them since they'd met again.

And give Tanaka a chance to explain herself….

"We were horrified at the state of you when you sat at your mother's side in the courtroom…so quiet, pale and solemn. That was not the Tomoko I know!" a weak chuckle was shared, Tomoko's more of a sniffing snort, "Kazou-kun had grown silent, his face so angry like I've never seen. Even Shigeo-kun had trouble calming him down during the break"

"When it came to deciding your legal guardian, I watched Kazou grip the podium and swear that he'd take you home, away from the madness. I pleaded with Dad to help him, to support your brother's case as his word as Oto-san's new caretaker held weight. I have to admit; when Kazou read his speech to the court I'm surprised the lady judge didn't take him there and then"

Tomoko blanched, coughing violently between her hysterical laughter that was slightly too high pitched, "Eck, horrible imagery!"

"Heh. Even Hakashi-okasan seemed swayed, and I think we all lost our heads when the jury came through with a resounding 'yes' in Kazou-kun's favour"

Silence crept over them as the memories slowly faded, yet their essence seeming to linger hauntingly in the brunette's eyes. Red and puffy but so devastatingly dim. This subject was still far too raw for Tomoko to touch, no – even think about. So much had been taken from her and her brother and that metaphorical carpet had been so ruthlessly ripped from beneath their feet. Tomoko's life had come crumbling down around her, and she had seen a side of reality that someone her age should never have been subjected to….especially alone…

Tanaka went ridged. Finally, those searing tears she'd been withholding leaking out of smouldering eyes, "What I'm trying to say is that….I am ashamed of what I did, I don't think I will ever not be. You needed someone then, someone to share with…Kazou-kun, Seiji-kun, Heidi-chan….me…but no one was there. Hakashi-okasan never knew how to show her love, always 'seen and not heard', as for Rijou-san…well, he's killed his mind, sodden to drink"

"But they both love you, unconditionally….we all do Tomo-chan….even if it's too late for us to make up for it"

The teen couldn't take the air in there anymore, or the maddening voice in her head that told her to surrender to the warmth of Tanaka's embrace.

"T-This is too much….t-too much, and f-far too soon!"

Her hands clenched the table top for a moment, her teeth audibly grinding together to the point her jaw creaked in protest. The arms around Tomoko loosened, already knowing what was about to happen. The brunette let out a long, low whine of anguish, her mind tearing itself apart with indecision and frustration that desperately needed some means of release.

"No…No…I-I can't do this!"

Her hissing snarl reverberated around the small room as the teen stormed out, the harsh slam of the door hurting Tanaka in more ways than one. From the nearby doorway two figures stood in the shade, both crestfallen. Seiji didn't hesitate to move to Tanaka's side as she dissolved into a wave of broken tears, clinging to her sibling as if her life depended on it.

The brunette that remained behind could only watch with a spike of envy as the two responded in a way that he and his sister never could…neither knew how …

And so…Kazou silently cried for the things that he and Tomoko had missed.

R&R kindly please!