Something woke her up.
Blinking groggily at the unfamiliar ceiling, Kaori tried to figure out what had awakened her and how she'd ended up snuggled under an afghan on a sofa instead of a bed. The last thing she remembered was sleepily answering questions as she drifted off while sitting on Mori's la...
She sat up with a start; her cheeks burning as the events of last night came flooding back.
The sound of a door opening came from the hallway. It wasn't Mori, she could clearly hear the sound of a shower running somewhere in the apartment. Turning to face the visitor, she pulled the afghan up to her chin. A tow-headed man dragging the suitcase she'd left at Mana's house walked through the archway and she smiled broadly in welcome.
"Kaori-chan!" Honey flew across the room and tackled her in a bear hug that knocked the breath out of her with a soft 'oof'. "Are you okay? I was really, really scared!"
The afghan fell to the floor when she opened her arms to wrap them around her favorite cousin. Patting his soft hair reassuringly she said, "I'm okay Mitsu-chan. I'm sorry for scaring you."
Honey drew back and studied her, assessing the truth of her claim. His clear, innocent gaze darkened when it landed on her cheek and began glittering menacingly at the sight of her knee. "You're hurt," he said flatly.
Kaori looked down at her knee and pulled up the afghan to cover it. "Oh. It's only a scrape. Takashi just bandaged it really, really well."
He pulled the afghan back, tilted his head to the side, and poked at the mummy wrapping. "He must have been very worried." Kaori furrowed her brown in confusion. Honey's eyes widened as big as saucers and he nodded gravely. "When Takashi's scared or upset he needs to take care of someone. It's his Usa-chan."
Kaori lowered her head and averted her eyes. She'd never meant to upset anyone, let alone two of the people dearest to her. Guilt nagged at the back of her mind but she pushed it aside. Except for leaving the karaoke room there was nothing she would have done differently.
Honey sat sideways on the sofa facing her and pulled his knees up, wrapping his arms around him. "You know you can talk to me, right Kaori-chan? You can tell me anything." Soft, childlike eyes peered up at her with concern. "Even things you might not want to tell Takashi," he hinted discreetly.
Kaori smiled softly at him and wondered how people could survive without family like this. "I know, Mitsu-chan. But there's nothing I wouldn't tell Takashi."
Honey scrutinized her closely; searching her eyes to be sure she was telling the truth. He gave a curt nod and smiled, holding out the brown paper bag. "Here, I brought breakfast. It isn't cake but they're yummy."
Kaori unrolled the top and peered inside. It was packed with at least half a dozen flaky pastries with dark chocolate oozing out from the middle. "Ooooh! Chocolate croissants!" Her hand snatched the top one and her eyes rolled back as the taste of butter, flour, and chocolate hit her tongue. She giggled at Honey's pained expression. "Did you want some?" Kaori held the bag out toward him.
"No-o-o-o?" His features tried to look resolute and failed miserably. "I brought them for you."
"I don't think I can eat all of them." Kaori suppressed her smile and waggled the bag under her cousin's nose.
"Well, maybe just one then." He snagged the bag and downed four of them before she finished her first one. "Rei-chan only lets me have cake if I eat good meals the rest of the time. She can be stricter than Takashi!"
Kaori giggled as a mental image of Honey's shy wife lecturing him crossed her mind. She finished her pastry and put the bag aside on the table, trying to save the last one for Mori.
"So what happened, Kaori-chan?" Honey asked casually, licking chocolate from his last croissant off the side of his hand. "How did you end up in that situation?"
Unable to look at him, she folded her hands in her lap and directed her gaze at them. "It was stupid. I didn't realize my drink had alcohol and trusted him when he said we were just going outside. " She smiled reassuringly at him before looking back at fidgety hands. "I promise I won't make that mistake next time."
The air in the room suddenly stilled and filled with a dark aura. "Next time?" Honey's voice drawled dangerously. "You mean the next time you disobey your father and lie to your family?"
She'd heard that tone before, the one with the knife's edge just under the surface, but never directed at her. Kaori looked up fearfully into hard brown eyes and gulped when she realized her sunny-natured cousin had vanished and been replaced by the future head of her family.
"I didn't want to lie…" she started to say instinctively but stopped. Seventeen years of being 'the good girl' urged her to apologize but she couldn't. Having had just a taste of how it felt to stretch her wings she didn't want to go back in the cage. "I can't keep living like this!" she exploded. "Nothing is ever safe, everything is 'too hard' for me!"
It was all coming out wrong, making her sound like a whiny kid. She closed her eyes against the tears of frustration welling within her and pulled out the one reason she thought he might accept. "I… I can't become someone who can stand by Takashi's side if I'm never allowed to grow up. If I never get to try and find out what I really can do!"
"Kaori," he said softly and paused until she looked back at him. His eyes were once again gentle and understanding but there was no forgiveness in them. "Growing up is all about figuring out the kind of person you want to be." His calm tone belied the ruthlessness of his words. "Do you really think becoming someone who lies to the people who love her is a person that can stand by Takashi's side?"
She kept her head turned to the side; unable to look at him as he stripped away any excuse she could offer or place she could hide. She pushed aside the guilt twisting in her stomach. Her father had given her no other choice. "You can't say that the way I've been raised is right," she spit out bitterly.
"I didn't say it was right, Kaori-chan. If you can't live the way your father wants you to then it's okay to fight to change it." His agreement startled her into looking back at him. Honey's mouth was twisted in a grim line as he delivered his final judgment. "But sneaking around behind his back is just… cowardly. Haninozukas aren't cowards."
She wanted to protest, to tell him how wrong he was. It had taken more courage than she'd thought she had to give up a lifetime of obedience. Bitterly, she wondered how he could possibly judge her. What did he know about how it felt?
Her brain stopped her mouth before it could say anything that stupid.
He knew exactly how it felt, she realized. Of all her family, he knew what it was like to not be able to live the way everyone expected you to. All the fight she had left melted away. He was right. Haninozukas weren't cowards.
"How did you do it?" She remembered all the punishments and scorn, all the gossip and the attempts by many to disinherit him. "How were you able to bear it?"
The dark aura around him vanished like fog before the sunlight of his benevolent smile. Honey leaned back against the sofa and pulled her against his shoulder, stroking her hair with his hand. "It... It was really hard. Otou-chan thought I was turning my back on our family and traditions and Chika-chan hated me for not being the brother he thought I should be. Sometimes I didn't think I could keep going through with it because it would be so much easier to give in." She could hear the sadness in his voice as he thought about those difficult years. "I knew, though, that I couldn't become the man I wanted to be or ever have the strength required of a Haninozuka head if I kept pretending to be someone I wasn't. Even when nobody understood but Takashi, I knew that what I was doing allowed me to embrace our family's legacy. Knowing that and having friends who supported me kept me going until the people I loved eventually accepted it too."
He pulled back a bit so she could see the seriousness of his expression. "You don't have to change anything, Kaori-chan. You'll be married in October and Takashi won't try to control you like that. But if you do want to change things, if you think it's worth it, then you have to willing to face whatever consequences there are."
Kaori honestly didn't know if it would be worth it. All she was sure of was that she wouldn't let down her family name or her cousin's example again. "I'm sorry Mitsu-ch…." She stopped. Some things needed to be done right.
Scooting back on the sofa, she placed her hands flat on the cushion between them and bowed down until her forehead almost touched them. "I'm sorry Mitsukuni-sama. I'm sorry for not acting like a Haninozuka. Please forgive me."
"Awwww! Of course I do! You're so cute, Kaori-chan." Honey pulled her up roughly into a tight hug and she sobbed against his chest. "No! Don't cry. If you do then I'll start crying too." Honey dissolved into loud, blubbery tears.
~oOoOo~
The living room was empty when Mori returned from his shower, towel draped over still wet hair. He'd heard Honey's voice earlier but had tactfully stayed out of the way of their discussion. He didn't feel the need to eavesdrop; one or both would end up telling him all about it later.
He sat down in one of the side chairs and waited for Honey to return from helping Kaori into the main bedroom so she could shower and change. It wasn't long before his cousin bounded into the room and leaned over the back of the chair, wrapping his arms tightly around the older man's neck.
"Are you okay, Takashi?" Honey asked.
Mori didn't need to think about the question before shaking his head no. All morning long he'd been replaying what he saw and what Kaori had told him. There was no way around the fact that he was upset.
Honey dropped his embrace and stepped around to stand in front of Mori. "Did he hurt her more than you told me?" His voice whispered lethal promises if the answer was yes.
Mori placed his elbows on his knees and leaned forward over them before shaking his head again. It wasn't the events of last night in particular that were the source of his churning emotions.
Honey closed his eyes and sighed in relief. "Chika-chan has those boys' information. They'll all be getting a visit later today." His smile rivaled Kyoya's at its most ominous. "That one won't be trying to hurt anyone for a long time and we gave his name to the police if he tries it again."
"Hn." It came out more forceful than he'd intended.
"You know I couldn't let you do it. We want him hurt, not dead," Honey warned. "Otou-chan wouldn't let me go either." The petite blonde's petulant tone matched his childlike appearance.
Mori knew that his cousin was picking up on the distress he was trying to keep in check. "It's not that."
Honey turned his too-observant gaze on him and drew himself up to full height. "If you have something to say to me, Takashi, just say it," he commanded.
The order freed him to unleash his feelings. "She couldn't defend herself, Mitsukuni," Mori growled out. "He attacked her and hit her and she wasn't able to protect herself. " Raising his head, the fury in his eyes bored accusingly into his cousin. "Why did you allow a Haninozuka to be left defenseless? Why didn't you make sure she was protected?"
Honey blinked and dropped to the sofa at the seriousness of the accusation. "May… Maybe Kaori-chan froze," he stammered. "You know the women aren't expected to fight whenever they meet so she might not be used to a real-world situation."
Mori closed his eyes and forced himself to re-leash his temper. "I asked her last night. She's had no training since she was five."
"Oh. That was before the accident." Honey looked both childlike and grave as he chewed reflectively on his upper lip. "I… I suppose her papa didn't think she could continue training because of her leg."
"Hn."
"I know the Haninozuka style is meant to compensate for physical weaknesses but leg strength is one of the essentials."
"Hn."
"True, it has been twelve years and she does have that new brace…" Honey faltered off. "I think I always had suspicions but I never followed up on them. I did what her Papa does, made assumptions about what she can and can't do without finding out for sure.
"Not your fault." Mori conceded. The Haninozuka clan took their duty to make sure their children were trained in self-defense almost as seriously as the Morinozukas. It was unfair to expect his cousin to be aware of one person who was being neglectful.
"Maybe not, Takashi, but it's my responsibility to fix it now."
"I could train her."
"No. This was our oversight. My oversight. I'll talk to Otou-chan today." He walked forward and put a comforting hand on the large man's shoulder. Leaning down, he whispered in his cousin's hear. "She's not a Morizonuka yet, you'll just have to let us take care of her for a bit longer."
"Hn." The growl of discontentment reverberated through the room and Honey doubled over in peals of childish laughter.
~oOoOo~
Kaori flitted between the sofa and the hallway from the minute Honey dropped her off at home. She didn't know why her papa wasn't there but she wanted to talk to him the minute he got back. Haninozukas weren't cowards, she reminded herself. As soon as he walked through the door she would tell him everything.
After what seemed like eternity, she heard the sound of the doorknob opening and raced to the entryway. As soon as she saw her father's face she knew that she wouldn't have to tell him anything. For the third time in twenty-four hours she found herself being swept up in a crushing hug.
"Papa. Papa, I'm sorry. I…" She couldn't help it, the tears started back up yet again.
"Shh! It's alright; Yorihisa-sama told me everything. I'm not mad. I'm just so glad your okay."
The two clung tightly to each other for a few minutes before moving to the living room sofa. "I'm just glad you're okay," he said for the fourth or fifth time. He patted the hands she kept folded tight in her lap. "You had to learn a hard lesson but we can put it behind us. You've always been my good girl. I know you won't do something like that again."
This was it, she thought. She could accept that and everything would go back to normal until her wedding day.
Or, she could live up to her family name.
"Papa, I… I'm sorry for lying to you and for not being more aware of things, but I'm not sorry that I went."
His face darkened and he growled forebodingly. "Kaori…"
"Papa, please listen!" she cut off. As she talked she could feel a weight she hadn't even been aware of lifting off her chest. "I love you. I know you want me to always be safe but from now on I'm going to start trying more things." Kaori gulped and said the thing which would hurt him most. "With or without your approval."
Her defiance hung in the air for a minute before falling to the ground and shattering like broken glass. "Unacceptable!" Her papa launched off the sofa and paced in front of her angrily. "It's too dangerous. Do you have any idea what's out there? All the things that could happen to you? I can't believe last night wasn't enough to convince you that the world isn't a safe place!"
"I know it isn't Papa." Kaori blinked back hot tears. She had never been the one being shouted at. The thought almost made her smile as she realized that this, too, was something new. "I know the world isn't safe. But it's also wonderful and full of amazing things and I want to experience all of them."
Her voice softened as she pleaded with him to understand. "I want to do this with your support. I want to be able to talk to you and ask your advice. And I promise I'll listen to you." Gripping her hands tightly together she looked up at him and tried to put every bit of courage and resolve she had into her gaze. "But even if you don't approve I still have to do this. I have to find out what I'm capable of."
Her father looked at her for a long minute, then turned on his heel and left the room. Kaori's shoulders dropped in despair. She'd prepared herself to take the consequences, but it still hurt so bad it nearly shook her determination. It would have been so easy to wait, to continue to be the child he wanted until she left his house. She knew, though, that this was a step they both needed. It was time for him to let go and her to learn how to stand on her own two feet. Or at least two feet and brace.
Hope blossomed when he came back into the room carrying a framed photo in his hand. He sat next to her on the sofa and turned the picture towards her. It was a familiar one, the photo of the smiling brunette woman who looked just like her that sat on the corner of his desk. He stared at the picture in silence for a minute before beginning to speak.
"When they first told me your mother had died I wanted to die as well," he said, eyes never leaving the picture. Even after all these year the pain was etched on his face when he recalled that night. "Seeing you, lying in that hospital bed… you had always been so full of life but you looked so fragile and when they told me you might never walk again... I knew I couldn't leave you. I could hear your mother's voice telling me to protect you just like she did. All I've ever wanted to do was keep you safe."
"I know, Papa. And you have. It's just… now I need to learn a bit about keeping myself safe."
He chuckled sharply. "That's almost exactly what cousin Yorihisa-sama said to me today." Raising his eyes to her he cupped her cheek in his hand. "You are so much like your mother, in spirit as well as looks. I don't think I could handle losing you as well." Smiling sadly he dropped his hand. "But I never meant for my protection to make you weak." Kaori could see him struggling within himself over what to say next and she waited patiently until he came to a decision. "I'm not happy about this new found independence of yours but I suppose we can give it a try."
"Oh, thank you! Thank you, Papa!" Kaori flung her arms around him and he gripped her back tightly with one arm. "And you didn't make me weak. Whatever strength I have is because you've cared for me all this time. I just want to prove it to you."
With a sigh, he let her go. "So, what is it you want to do first?" he asked, cringing in anticipation of the answer.
"First, I'd…" Her mind latched on to one thing she'd always dreamed of but thought was out of reach. "I'd really like to go to the grocery store and do my own shopping!" Her eyes gleamed at the thought of picking out her own produce and being able to demand the best cuts of meat right from the butcher.
Her father burst into relieved laughter and relaxed back against the sofa."I think I just might be able to handle that."
A/N: I know this one took awhile. It seems the closer I get to the end the less I want to write. Also, this chapter didn't have as much kissing so it was hard to keep the motivation (grin). The next one may be the last, unless I end up writing over 5K words again. I do have an epilogue planned which picks up with them about 14-15 years in the future.
Thanks as always to reviewers (Jessi DarkFox - Thank you again. Can't wait for your next chapter.) and all new followers and favoriters. You really keep me going when I hit the lack-of-inspiration wall.