Birthday Bash 2024
Prompt Six: Free Day
Requiem Part Two
Haru was still adding attachments to emails when her phone started ringing again. A glance revealed that the number was unknown, but considering the possibility that Baron had opened up, she decided to answer instead of letting it go to voicemail. "Hello?"
"We can do the DNA test if you insist," a powerful voice struggled to say through tears. "But since you look like a brunette version of my mother, I don't think it's necessary… Haru."
The man said her name like it was breaking his heart in the best way.
She lit up at the compliment and confirmation. "Hi, Hashi." She struggled to think of something else to say. "… I have to say I wasn't expecting Baron to deliver such good news about us when I thought it was idle chitchat. I was sure this was a mystery that couldn't be solved."
"Amen to that," he admitted with a slightly wild laugh like he could hardly believe the sun could shine so warmly. "I'd still be scolding him for not showing off pictures of you before now if I didn't want to talk before looking at your emails."
"I'm trying to be thorough," she promised him while sending off another one before opening his email again. "Would you like photos of just her or my branch of the family?"
"I want everything. Please be gentle with my greediness, I'm the only family member on my end, so finding out about you has gotten me excited. Is there anyone else that's alive on your end?"
Haru smiled in sympathy. "Just my mom, but you'll have to wait to meet her until Christmas. Ever since I moved out, she's switched to tours so that she can do all the sight-seeing she couldn't do when I was younger. You're really going to like her, she's… well, she named me after Grandma for a reason, so she's going to be ecstatic when I tell her about you. Hope you won't mind answering both of our identical onslaughts."
"I'm looking forward to it more than I can say. Would you forgive me for providing the same information on my side when you come to visit?"
Haru couldn't resist pouting a bit. "I'm feeling greedy for answers too, but I really should get back to work after I finish up this last email to you and ask for the time off. It's basically giving you access to mine and Mom's photo gallery." Then she hesitated. "This is a silly thing to ask about, but… I have the original diary and some of Grandma's belongings in a safety deposit box. Would you like me to bring them when we come?"
"Yes," he stated firmly almost before she finished asking. "I believe Baron mentioned you are working on a book on sewing stuffed animals. I don't suppose you could write and work just as well here as your apartment?"
Haru blinked before thinking it over. He clearly needed this as much or even more than she did. "How about for two more weeks after my vacation is up, and if I haven't gotten on your nerves by then and I like living near you, we'll revisit the idea? Would we be in a hotel?" Haru suddenly asked herself, wishing she'd gotten more information out of her boyfriend before he ran off.
"There's plenty of room for both of you at my place, and Baron knows that. Speaking of which, he's been making you as happy as you clearly make him?" he asked pointedly.
Haru smiled in complete bliss. "It's been amazing. I probably would have picked another time to meet him, but when I desperately needed him, he was right there. It was easy to go with Mom's advice with Machida about long dating times to weed out red flags, but with Baron?" She couldn't resist blushing like a teenager. "I really just want to jump the gun, buy a ring and propose before he realizes he can do better."
"Stop that," he scolded her lovingly. "I shouldn't say so, but Baron keeps a ring on him for when he thinks you're ready, and the engagement period will probably be very short."
Haru couldn't resist blushing even more, and she really couldn't resist reopening the tab to a jewelry website where she had settled on the perfect ring. "Well, Mom can't complain about missing my elopement when she's halfway across the world," Haru couldn't resist saying while making the handful of taps that would ensure she got the ring as soon as possible. "So, you approve of Baron for me?"
"I assure you if I had any worthwhile complaints, I'd have mentioned them first. No, I've heard him talk about you, and the plans he can't wait to make with you before he knew doing so would make me his in-law. I'm far from the only one he's bragged about you to, and I can guarantee you will at least be open to negotiations."
Haru glowed at the thought before going to her work's website to begin the time off request. "It's not like anyone will be able to say anything about how long we've been dating after what Machida did."
"What did Machida do? Is he an ex-boyfriend?" Hashi asked sternly.
Haru nodded before remembering that he couldn't see it. "He broke up with me and married some girl no one knew about three months later. That's why I was at the shooting range the day I met Baron. It was Machida's wedding day, and his mom thought I deserved better than to find out through social media or Hiromi-my best friend- going on a tirade against him."
"I see," Hashi said in a low tone that could have been used to disguise anything from disgust to homicidal rage. "No wonder Baron thought buying you a round of ammo was the right way to break the ice."
"I was definitely not in the mood for anything else," Haru confessed a little sheepishly, since the sting had long faded with her boyfriend's help. "It's just hard not to wonder if Machida was cheating on me or fell in love that quickly, and if so, what was so wrong with me? Baron's delivery of making sure I knew after I finished ranting about the situation that he was still interested but willing to be a friend as long as I needed was exactly what I needed. Plus it helped that he could see for himself how accurate I am with a gun," she added with a dark laugh that she hoped her cousin would find amusing. 'Machida never liked that I like guns more than he did, but at least Baron enjoys shooting with me.'
Luckily, he chuckled with the same tone. "I also have a shooting range, so don't forget to bring your equipment. Even if only half of Baron's reports are true, I'll be pleased to show you off."
"Aww," Haru cooed like she was embarrassed, finishing the request. "I hate to be a bug, but I really should get back to work if I want enough progress for my boss to okay coming to see you."
"That's understandable, if disappointing. I can't wait to see you, but I'll have to content myself with the treasure hoard you sent me."
She could hear him sitting on a padded chair and start playing with a mouse.
"Don't be afraid to call or text later. I know I'm not that Haru, but…" She swallowed hard with emotion. "You're going to see for yourself just how badly she wanted answers. I need to do this for her. Make sure you have a mountain of Kleenex handy even if you're not a crier."
"Didn't she find happiness?" Hashi asked sadly.
"She did. But she went through a lot of things first, and they weren't pretty. Every time I reread her journal, I wish I could time-travel and just give her the biggest hug," Haru admitted wistfully. "She had problems with expressing emotions other than paper or deeds, but she'd have traded her other eye for the answers you have."
"Did the responsible party get duly punished for that?" he snarled like an animal.
"Does beheading him with her bayonet count?" Haru asked pointedly. "She was out of bullets when that idiot got in a lucky hit."
She could hear him shiver with delight. "That's my girl."
"Did the people that kidnapped her brother ever get punished?" Haru asked, not quite snarling the same as he did.
"Poison. It was better than they deserved, but they could easily overpower him if he tried a direct confrontation, and he worked with what he had available," he confessed regretfully.
Haru sighed. "That's just how it is sometimes, but at least he got free of them. I'd love to keep talking, but-"
"I'll call you again soon. I am beyond pleased to claim you as my family."
Her heart melted even more from the gentle way he said it than the words themselves. "And I'm really excited to come see you. I hope we get along this well in person."
"I'm sure we'll manage," Hashi promised in a tone that made her think he'd stop at nothing short of claiming her as his sister.
They were able to force themselves off the call after that, and Haru was still beaming while pinning the squirrel bits into place when her mind clicked on something he said.
She looked like his mother, but his family name was Nakajima. Could his parents have been cousins?
Haru shook her head and threaded her machine with the correct color. "Or his dad also had family drama and took his wife's name. It's not like he raised a fuss about me proposing instead."