Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ A ship in the fog ❯ Haru's story ( Chapter 3 )

Thanks for the reviews, those are always highly appreciated!

 

 

And a HUGE thank you to BakaDen, who bothered to review this chapter, so you won't have to deal with my mistakes! m(_ _)m

 

 

 

Chapter 3 - Haru's story

 

 

The second night, when Kyo and Momiji arrived, Haru had managed to sit himself up and he was resting against a wooden box. The pile of blankets was all around him, and he still looked a little feverish, but overall his condition seemed better than the night before.

 

“Hello Haru! How are you feeling tonight?” asked the sea-boy with enthusiasm, while taking a seat next to him.

 

“I feel a lot better, thank you,” he answered with his soft voice. “I have been wondering all day if you were a dream of mine or not,” the two toned boy added, looking at Kyo with a playful smile. If the redhead had been his normal self, he would have barked something back to hide his embarrassement. But the day had been long, very long, plus he had barely slept the night before. So he remained silent, and an angel passed while Kyo somewhat shamelessly stared at Haru. He came back to Earth when Haru quirked one of his white brows in invitation for him to come near. Shaking his head to clear it, he abruptly sat next to Momiji, who's gaze went from one to the other and back, smiling wide.

 

“So, what's your story?” the redhead asked grumpily.

 

“Huh?”

 

“What are ya doing here! You were supposed to tell us, remember?” Patience had never been one of Kyo's qualities.

 

“Yes, please, tell us Haru, tell us!” begged the blondinet, leaning forward in anticipation.

 

“It's complicated.” Haru smiled at how sweet and innocent Momiji looked. Kyo couldn't help but to notice how terribly sad that smile was. “Where sould I start?” the two toned boy added to himself.

 

“The beginning would be nice.” For once, there was neither bitter irony nor sarcasm in the redhead's voice.

 

“Right. Before I do that though, I'll need to explain a few things. I come from a rather big family, which owns a large merchant fleet. The head is an eerie and wicked man, a couple of years older than I. He… Well, we all depend on him, someway or another. All of us. So, it all started one morning. I was sleeping… “

 

* * *

 

A sharp knock on his bedroom's door woke Haru up. He didn't know what time it was, but it was definitely too early for him, for he was not a morning person. Mumbling, he got up from his futon and moved towards the sound. He caught a glimpse of his bedhead in the mirror above his chest of drawers, just before he caught his feet in his black sheet and fell hard on the cold floor.

 

Needless to say, he was certainly not in the best mood when he opened the door. The harsh comment he was about to serve whoever was responsible for this died on his lips when he saw the man standing there.

 

“Hello Hatsuharu. Your presence is required at the main house,” Kureno said in a monotonous tone. Despite the early hour, he was perfectly dressed in a dark three-piece suit and well combed.

 

Still not perfectly awake, Haru made a move to follow the man right away.

 

“I would suggest you to, at least, put some pants on before you leave. A shirt would be nice too,” he added with a meaningful look at Haru's snow-white naked body. “I will wait.” The two toned boy banged the door closed.

 

Half an hour later, Kureno and a now fully dressed—but still pissed off—Haru entered the main house. He was led by Akito's right-hand man to a part of the manor that he had never seen before. If it was possible, that wing was darker, and the air there heavier. A shiver went throught his spine.

 

Kureno made a move of the hand to command him to wait there while he went through a door. The two toned boy took advantage of that time to think. Nothing he has done lately could be the cause of his presence here, which wasn't reassuring. At least when you know what to fear, it's less alarming. He was still looking at the wallpaper, deep in his thoughts, when Kureno invited him inside.

 

The room's walls were covered with books and papers, and Haru guessed it was some kind of office. It was only when his eyes got used to the poor light that he noticed Akito seated behind the massive desk. The corners of his mouth were inching up. Nothing good could come out of his smile.

 

“Well, well. Long time no see, Hatsuharu,” the Head stated. “I have heard gossip,” he continued, cutting short the boy's answer, “about you wooing my Yuki.” Akito looked at him with disgust and restrained furor. “That's why,” he added, preventing Haru from speaking up again, “I've decided that it is time for you to marry Rin, my dear sister.”

 

A heavy silence followed this announcement. This time Haru was speechless.

 

“You do realize that this is an honor for you, don't you? You do realize that you should be grateful for my magnanimity, don't you?” The two toned boy was painfully aware that Akito's voice was getting dangerously venomous.

 

“Yes, I do,” he replied with a gulp.

 

“Good. The wedding will take place a month from now, when I get back from my business trip. Be ready. You're dismissed.” This being said, the Head lost all interest in Haru and started rummaging in the desk's papers.

 

Still choked, the boy didn't move until he felt a small pressure on his left elbow. “This way.” Kureno led him out of the room and to the manor's front door. “I think you know your way home,” he added, already turning on his heel and walking away.

 

“Kureno, wait.” Haru called him back, a hint of panic in his soft grey eyes. “Well, hum. He was kidding, right? This can't be true. Right?” His voice was shaking a little.

 

Turning his head, Akito's secretary gave a sorry look at the poor boy. “I'm most positive he isn't.” With those words, he hurried back into the darkness of the hall.

 

Later that day, in Yuki's livng room, Haru was experiencing a small nervous breakdown. The usually mellow boy was beside himself—like a broken door, four holes of various sizes in the walls, and an upside down table could tell. His silver haired cousin was watching him with irritation. “Enough,” he said after some time, deciding that Haru had made sufficient damage to his house. “Haru, stop!” he yelled when his cousin kept going.

 

Hands on his knees and breathing hard, Haru finally put on hold the living room destruction. “So, Haru, care to tell me what's going on with you?” asked Yuki, sitting on the only remaining chair.

 

“He… wants… me… to… marry…” started the still panting two toned boy.

 

“Akito wants you to get married?” Yuki repeated incredulously. He smilled, this seemed really funny to him.

 

“RIN!” Haru finished his sentence with force.

 

“Well,” all sympathy for the poor fellow had left Yuki and his eyes went cold, “I'm sorry to say so, but you had it coming. You were the one thinking she looked lonely. You were the one who tried to get to know her, you are the one…”

 

“Are you jealous?” the now standing Haru asked him bluntly.

 

“What? Of course not!” the silver haired boy denied with annoyance. “All I am saying is you tried to get closer to her and now you are paying for it. Period. When is the wedding?”

 

“There will be NO wedding,” stated Haru. "You know that my interests lay elsewhere."

 

“Don't you think it would be best to tell her then?”

 

“I guess so. Yuki?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I'm sorry for the mess I have made. I'll come back to clean up when this whole thing will be over,” Haru apologized.

 

“Fine, I have to follow Akito on one of his trips again. I'll see you when I get back.” Yuki stood up and saw Haru to the door.

 

Haru gave his silver haired cousin a short hug before leaving the house and getting on with his search for the girl his life was in jeopardy for.

 

He found her in one of her spots, on the top of a lonely hill. She was standing there, a frail silhouette in the thin air, her long black dress and hairs flowing in the wind. Like always, her corsage was more décolleté than what was socialy accepted. Like him, she couldn't care less about what others were thinking of her, and it was one of the things that he liked in her.

 

“Hey Haru,” she acknowledged when he came near her. She didn't turn her head back.

 

The wind was blowing hard on the hill and she was standing near the edge. Even if her death would have saved him a lot of trouble, Haru didn't wish for that to happen, so he wrapped his arm round her waist and led her a few feet away. She didn't resist and didn't talk.

 

“Look Rin, I was summoned to the main house this morning… and we need to talk.” Haru was now back to his normal self and he was calling himself stupid for his earlier panic attack. Now, they only need to talk to sort this out, didn't they?

 

“Could you tell your brother that this whole wedding thing is ridiculous? I don't love you, I can't marry you,” the two toned boy said with his usual bluntness.

 

Seeing nothing wrong with what he had just said, he patiently waited for the girl to answer. That's why he was taken aback by her violent reaction. Like a flash, she freed herself from Haru's arm and pushed him strongly towards the precipice. Sticking his heels in the grass, Haru stopped himself at merely a couple of inches from the edge, surprise written all over his face. From where she was standing, he could see daggers in Rin's eyes, and if her look could have killed, he would now be six feet under.

 

Still, without uttering a word, she lifted her right arm. Haru saw the sunlight reverberating on the shiny silver gun she pointed at him. He swiveled around and left the place.

 

In a daze, he went back home and stuffed a few things a bag. He couldn't stay there anymore. Shivers went through his spine at the only memories of Rin's crazy eyes. Staggering, he exited the place he used to live in, and, despite the now late hour, he decided to head for the port. He needed to put some space between Akito and himself—the more, the best. He could find a way later to communicate with Yuki, but right now he needed to flee.

 

After a two-day's errance, Haru finally met some farmers who gave him directions. Twice. When he reached the shore, the port was in a thick fog and the few ships moored there were barely visible. The two toned boy had been told that all three of those ships were leaving the next morning, so when the night came, he wormed into of one of them and hid, until…

 

* * *

 

“It's been a couple of days already, so I guess we will soon reach our destination,” Haru added, after a thought.

 

An awkward silence settled in, until Momiji cleared his throat and asked the two toned boy, self-consciously, “Hum, Haru, you know where you are, right?”

 

“I'm in a ship,” the other answered flatly.

 

“He means do you know in which ship you are, you idiot!” snapped the redhead.

 

“Well, like I told you, I got lost on my way to the port. And once I got there, fog was covering the entire place. So, no, I don't know exactly. But I have been told that all the ships in that port were leaving for Russia or Korea through the Japan Sea. Why?” he asked, frowning. He was getting suspicious.

 

“Which port, Haru?”

 

“Turuga, of course!” This was getting ridiculous. He saw pretty well that Kyo was becoming darker and darker with every answer he gave. `What the hell is going on?' he thought.

 

Kyo sighed. “This ship has left Japan from Nagoya port, which, as you know, is on the other side. We are in the Pacific ocean.” He was dumbfunded by how the boy could have been that lost. “So, you can guess now just what we are about to tell you, can't you?”

 

“Yeah. This damn ship belongs to my family.” Haru's face was now greyish and his beautiful grey eyes were fixed on the floor. “All of this for nothing. I feel so stupid. I couldn't have done anything worse.”

 

“I'm afraid it's even worse then you think,” Momiji added softly.

 

“Why?”

 

“Well, you see, Akito is on board.”

 

 

 

 

To be continued…