Haruka stirred and awoke to see it was still dark outside, probably
around midnight. She wondered why she had woken up, and then noticed the
sounds of the television and loud laughter. What the... Oh, her father.
He was being a lot louder than he should be this late at night. Haruka
wearily rubbed her eyes and started down the stairs, wondering why her
father was being so rude.
She was quite surprised when she entered the living room and saw him
sitting there with several empty beer bottles around him, another one
less than half full in his hand. His eyes were bloodshot and he was
clearly drunk, barely awake. Haruka walked in cautiously, and moved to
turn the volume down on the t.v. without disturbing his near-slumber.
"Whaddaya think you're doing?!" Katai slurred, swaying to his feet. "Get
back upstairs, now!"
"Otou-san, I couldn't get to sleep, I just--"
"You also have to presume, don'cha? I'm getting real sick o' this, kid,
y'know that?" He stumbled towards her with a very angry look on his
face. "Your mama is too easy on you. Y'never get in trouble with her,
you get to do whatcha want, and I'm tired of sitting here while you live
the easy life! I gotta work to earn this family good stuff, and you just
get spoiled wit' it."
Haruka was very concerned by now, and she started backing towards the
stairs frightfully. Why did her father have to drink so much? He'd never
done this before when he'd been drinking, at least that she knew of. "I'm
going back to bed, otou-san," she mumbled, dashing for the stairs.
She let out a shriek when she didn't even make it to the first step.
Katai had grabbed onto her arm tightly, and he swung her around, throwing
her to the ground. "Otou-san, what's wrong?!" she cried at him. She knew he
was drunk, but this...
She let out a loud, pain-filled scream as his foot connected with her
ribs. Terrified, she scrambled away, half-crawling across the floor. He
pursued her, driving her into a corner. Haruka huddled, her arms thrown
over her head, shaking hard with tears pouring down her face. "Otou-san,
please! Don't hurt me!"
"Shut-up, bitch! You're a pathetic excuse for a daughter, and I'm sick
and tired of putting up with you! You're gettin' what you deserve!"
He hit her arms hard, making her scream again, and rained blows on them,
the house echoing with her almost nonstop screaming. He kicked her un-
protected shins; she'd pulled her knees up against her chin to try to
keep away from him. She sobbed uncontrollably as her arms and legs
throbbed with pain as her father continued to relentlessly beat her.
Finally, he backed away, and Haruka rolled onto her side, groaning and
coughing hard. He kicked her in the back a few times, causing her to
fly back against the wall from the strength of one of the blows and her
head to snap back and hit the wall, knocking her unconscious. He stood
there for a bit, looking down at her crumpled, bloodied form, then
stumbled away to his room, where he collapsed on the bed and fell asleep.
 
 
Haruka regained consciousness early the next morning. One of her eyes
was gummed shut with blood, and she could barely lift her head enough to
see the room was faintly lit, the sun just starting to rise. She moaned
and tried to get up, the pain of trying to move making her stomach churn.
She trembled and closed her eye tight, her body racked with trembles. She
started to sit up, but the wave of dizziness that went through her kept
her from getting far. It hurt to move, her arms and legs were badly
bruised and bloodied, and her back felt sore as well, probably bruised
too. She gingerly raised a hand to her face and brushed it across the eye
she couldn't open, wincing with pain as she realized it wasn't just blood
sealing it shut, but also the fact it was swollen.
She nearly had a heart attack when her father walked in, and despite
the pain of doing so, she scrambled away again. "Cut that out and get
up," he spat. The drunkenness appeared to be gone, but he was still
bitter and his head throbbed. "Hurry up, willya?!"
Haruka carefully stood, leaning heavily against the wall. Her head spun
and she fought back tears, avoiding meeting the gaze of the father who had
betrayed her trust.
"Go take a shower and wash all that blood off. You're still going to
school, so get a clean uniform out. I'll bandage you up before you leave.
If anyone asks, you got in a fight after school; that's truth enough.
If you say one word about this to anyone, and I mean _anyone_, I'll beat
you even more, got it?"
Haruka barely managed to nod as she trudged up the stairs, wincing with
each step. She got out her uniform, took off her pajamas, and stepped into
the shower, gratefully slipping into the hot water. She flinched at the
stinging sensation of water meeting the cuts, but tried to ignore it.
Taking a washcloth, she carefully washed the blood from her limbs, face,
and back, then she lathered up her hair and washed it as well. She could
feel liquid spilling down her cheeks; shower water mixed with tears. She
was careful when she slipped on her clothes, trying to avoid brushing
against her wounds. When she opened the door, she saw her father there.
He had a first-aid kit in his hand and was frowning darkly. He was
something far less than gentle when he wrapped her arms and legs tightly
where there was evidence of what had happened. He put gauze over her black
eye, taping it in place with medical tape. He then handed her a back
brace, and left to let her put it on herself. She combed her hair
carefully to avoid contact with the bump on her head. Staring down at
all the bandages made her start to cry harder, and she felt the wave of
nausea go through her again and she knelt in front of the toilet and
immediately threw up. She trembled as she wiped her mouth, and
grabbed a cup to fill with water, desperately trying to get the taste out
of her mouth. She looked up into the mirror and her pitiful reflection.
The skin around her eyes was blotchy with red from her crying, some
blood-vessels broken from her vomiting. She took several deep breaths,
trying to regain some form of composure, and went downstairs where Katai
was waiting.
"There's nothing to eat in the house, so you're going to school without
breakfast or lunch. Remember what I told you," he warned. "You're walking
today, so get going before I decide to drive you, and believe me, you
won't like it if I take you."
Haruka grabbed her bookbag left the house in a daze. She barely noticed
the pavement under her feet as she walked. A large breeze was blowing,
ruffling her hair and skirt, and she gratefully paused and closed her
eyes. The wind... it had many forms, she mused to herself, strong or
gentle, but always powerful no matter what form. It was almost comforting
in some small way. She was compelled to stay standing in the breeze, but
she had to get going if she was going to get to school on time. She
put on an emotionless face to mask her feelings as she walked along the
sidewalk. She'd been betrayed, beaten, and ignored. She had trusted her
father, opened up to him, and he still frowned upon her and hurt her,
physically and emotionally. She had no one to turn to, and even if she
did... Haruka was too terrified to consider ever letting anyone close
to her again; what if she got hurt again by someone else?
Haruka entered the school building and took her seat. Only a few other
kids were there; it was still a bit early. She ignored their shocked
gazes and whispered comments. She didn't want to talk to them, never had,
never would.
A girl with long brown hair and soft green eyes came over to her. Haruka
couldn't help but notice how pretty the girl was, and was surprised when
the girl laid her hand on hers and asked, "Are you okay? You look like
you've been hurt pretty badly. Do you want to talk about it?"
"N-no... I'll be okay." Haruka pulled her hand away and turned her head
to look out the window and hide her blush. The girl walked away.
Haruka couldn't help but reel with shock afterwards. Why had she noticed
that girl's looks? She never really paid attention to appearances, well,
not including that girl at church, but still... her hand felt warm from where
the girl had laid her hand on hers. Haruka was irritated with herself for
blushing. She was just some girl that was concerned, that's all! Why should
she get so worked up over a girl?!
More students were filing in, and the teacher had come in as well. Several
kids came over to her and asked how she was, but she didn't respond to
their questions. The guys she sometimes played with during P.E. teased her
a bit and she ignored them. Sure, they were fun to play with in basket-
ball, but they were otherwise jerks.
When the bell rang, the teacher rather loudly asked (drawing lots of
attention as well), "Haruka-chan, what happened to you?! Are you all right;
do you want to see the nurse?!"
Haruka sighed inwardly; she _had_ to answer now, this was the teacher,
and if she didn't say anything, the teacher would probably call the house,
and her mom would be there... Haruka felt chilled. If the teacher
suspected anything and called, and Katai found out... Haruka mumbled
quickly, "I got in a fight yesterday."
"Looks like it was a pretty bad fight! What were you doing fighting with
someone?"
"It was... a misunderstanding."
The teacher made a "tsk" sound, and turned to the chalkboard and started
writing. Haruka hid her face from view and choked back tears again. God,
why did this have to happen? Her hand fumbled for the cross around her
neck, silently saying a prayer.
The boy next to her leaned over and whispered, "Hey, who won, you or
the other person?"
Haruka ignored him.
"Stupid... you probably lost."
Haruka opened the textbook needed for the assignment the teacher was
writing on the board. Her arms throbbed slightly whenever she moved
them, but she fought to ignore the pain and focused on the lesson.
She barely made it through the day. Having gone without two meals and
with a constant aching sensation coursing through her, the day was
sheer agony. She was surprised when, while leaving the school grounds,
she saw Teinei driving in her car. Teinei immediately stopped, pulled
over, and ran over to Haruka. "Haruka-chan! What happened?"
"I-I got in a fight, oba-san."
"You want to talk about it?"
"No... I-I can't..."
"... Um, hop in; I'll give you a ride."
Haruka gratefully climbed into the car, but winced slightly while putting
the seatbelt on. Her stomach growled loudly and Teinei looked at her
with a bit of amusement. "Hungry? I'll take you some place to eat, okay?
Sunao-chan shouldn't mind too much."
"Thanks! I haven't eaten all day!"
Teinei looked very surprised at first, then she said, "Well, all the more
reason to take you somewhere, right?"
Teinei started talking more; Haruka barely listened, however. Teinei was
babbling something about Haruka's third cousin moving in with her, but
Haruka didn't follow it; she'd never met Murasaki. Teinei was talking
about work and stuff after that, but Haruka didn't notice. They pulled
up at a restaurant after several minutes. They ate in relative silence.
Afterwards, Teinei took Haruka home, then went on to her house.
Haruka was nervous when she went inside. Sunao was home, unloading
groceries. She looked up at Haruka and smiled, then came over and very
carefully hugged her. "Hello, Haruka-chan, how was your day?"
"Uh... I don't know... bad, I guess..."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Your father told me you got into a fight at the
playground yesterday after I left. I thought I told you to stay out of
trouble, Haruka, why weren't you more careful?"
Haruka didn't answer; her mind was whirling too fast. Katai had talked
with her and _lied_ to her... She wished she could curl up in her
mother's arms and cry her eyes out and confess everything, but she was
so scared of what might happen to her if she told her mother... and what
if Katai hurt Sunao as well? If Sunao _did_ find out and went to the
authorities with it, Katai might hurt them both...
"Haruka-chan? Are you all right? Here, let's get some clean bandages on
those and see how your eye is doing."
Haruka followed Sunao into her bathroom, and bit her lip when Sunao
tenderly unwrapped her arms and legs. Sunao let out a short exclamation
of surprise. "My goodness! Haruka-chan, I am not letting you out of the
house except for school for the next few weeks. These look terrible! How
many people did you fight anyways?"
 
"I... don't remember..."
Sunao carefully wrapped new bandages around her arms, and carefully peeled
the gauze from her eye, putting a fresh piece on. "Haruka-chan, you are
lucky that you got out of that fight..." she hugged Haruka gently, "From
the looks of things, it must have been pretty rough. Please, don't ever
do that again. You're hurt badly, I can tell, and I don't want you to go
through this again, okay?"
"... yeah..."
How could she have bought that lie Katai told her?! And how could he have
done this to her... what if he did it again?...
Haruka shoved aside Sunao and ran to her bedroom. She slammed the door
shut, locking it and propping a chair against the handle, then made sure
her windows were shut tight and locked well, then she dove into her closet
and shut the door as well, shivering all over as she lay there in the
darkness trying not to cry again.
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~
CHAPTER 4
~~~~~~~~~~
 
 
A few weeks into the start of the school year, the Kaiou family moved
into a larger house in a different neighborhood. While the houses were
closer together in this neighborhood, they had found one backing up to a
large lake, which more than made up for the tighter quarters they would
be in. The lake was far enough back from the house that flooding wouldn't
be a problem, and thanks to the fact that the yards were raised up and
had docks since the lake was set a few feet down, even if it did start
to fill up more than usual, it wouldn't matter. A hill on the opposite
side led up to a park with a playground, and would undoubtedly provide
much entertainment. The move didn't effect which schools they attended; in
fact, they now lived closer to their school than before. It was a couple
months into the triplets' last year of junior high, and their parents
hadn't wanted to mess up where they went.
Their new house was upscale from their previous; columns, tile floor in
the entryway and on all floors except the bedrooms, bay windows, lots of
skylights, and an indoor pool. Even after moving in, they didn't really
get to meet most of their neighbors; Tadashii and Ki were busy with work,
Kanzen with studying, Kirei and Suteki with their friends, Genki with
whatever it was he did, Kanpeki with her own thoughts (plus she hated being
around other people), and Michiru just didn't feel like it. The kids did
plan to make an effort after the school year started to meet more people.
Ki's parents lived in the neighborhood, so they were always telling the
other neighbors about "how cute their grandkids are" and "how talented they
all are" and many people had already come over to meet them.
Michiru looked over her school uniform with her usual look of approval and
gladly put it on. The uniform was sky blue with loose, light bows, and was
very cute. Michiru smiled at her reflection and carefully brushed her wavy
hair, putting on a headband to hold her hair back.
Kirei and Kanpeki came into her room wearing the same type of uniform.
"Michiru-chan, you almost ready?"
"Yes, just let me grab my things."
Kirei walked with them even though she was in high school like Suteki and
Kanzen. She thought it was her "duty as a big sister". Genki attended their
school, but walked with some friends of his instead.
Suteki showed obvious disinterest in school, despite the fact that she
was a very bright pupil, while Kanzen eagerly devoured the work. Michiru
had been doing great in school and breezed through everything, but Kirei
struggled to maintain her grades. Kanpeki followed Michiru's example. Genki
just did the work and did all right.
Michiru shrugged it off and went downstairs with her sisters, all grabbing
their bookbags, and said bye to Ki. Ki had her blue hair pulled back in a
tight bun with loose tendrils framing her face, her usual style. She kissed
their foreheads and waved them off. Michiru was a bit upset at how her mother
was so cold at times. Ki had raised her girls to be ladies, instilling in them
grace, good manners, skill, and other things to make them fit her ideals. She
never seemed to care whether or not they _wanted_ to do it. Tadashii was busy
with work most of the day, and once he came home, he worked on reports and
things, so Michiru rarely talked to him. Michiru had learned early that her
parents weren't going to give her a lot of attention and care, only try to
mold her into a "perfect woman," and expect highly of her. Michiru spent her
time alone, painting and drawing pictures, and playing her violin. It hadn't
taken long for her to master it; she was quite the prodigy and had a natural
talent for it. She played so well that her parents already talked about wanting
her to perform and to send her on tour. Michiru stubbornly refused; she wasn't
interested in having an audience, she played to release emotions, not to share
them with others.
"Michiru-chan, are you listening?! Hel-LO?!"
Michiru blinked and saw Kirei was standing there yelling at her. "What?"
"Leave her alone, Kirei-chan," Kanpeki mumbled.
"Hush, Kanpeki-chan. You almost ran into that pole, Michiru-chan. You all right?"
Michiru looked away from her sister. "Sorry, I was just thinking..."
Kirei snorted and turned away as they continued walking. Kanpeki slumped
a bit as she walked, her shoulder-length blond hair hiding her deep blue eyes.
Michiru thought her triplet sister was odd; sometimes she was very cheerful
and excited, but other times she was so sad and quiet. It was strange that
they could be so different from each other despite the fact that they were
triplets. Kirei brushed her brown bangs out of her face as she looked
around at other students walking around. Some students from another middle
school were walking to their school as well. Michiru admired the cute
uniforms some of them had--one school's girls' uniform in particular, the
trim being dark blue-gray, with a long sleeved shirt, and instead of a ribbon
in the front, the shirt laced up with string and was tied on top. She heard
Kirei squeal and point frantically, "Oooo... look at him! Isn't he just
the cutest?!"
Michiru looked over at the boy, wearing the boys' version of the uniform
she'd been admiring, this one having dark blue-gray pants with a white dress
shirt and dark blue-gray vest and blazer. The boy had short brown hair combed
back from his face and sparkling brown eyes, and was talking excitedly
with a girl next to him. Michiru's eyes widened a bit when she saw the
girl. She was tall, very slender with an athletic build, short blond hair
and haunted teal eyes. She seemed nervous and though she was obviously
physically powerful, she looked fragile emotionally from the way she
carefully avoided any physical contact with anyone. She was very beautiful
though... Michiru felt a strange feeling go through her, a rush of warmth
and excitement, and she had the strangest sensation that somehow this girl
was meant to be with her... The boy seemed to know her well and was making
various hand gestures as he talked with her and was growing increasingly
irritated with her silence.
"Too bad, he's _your_ age," Kirei sighed. "Younger boys are so immature. But
hey, maybe you would look cute with him?... Or Kanpeki... No, I think that
might be his girlfriend walking with him."
"I don't think so," Michiru murmured, her eyes still locked on the tall
girl. "She looks like she doesn't want anyone near her."
"Oh, I recognize her... what's her name... Ten'ou Haruka. She lives in
my friend's neighborhood; her house is across the street from the park on
the other side of the lake. Her aunt lives a few doors down from us, too.
Ten'ou-san never, _ever_ comes out of her house, only reason I know who she
is was that my friend's mom knows her mom, and her mom was showing pictures.
Some people say they hear her screaming at night sometimes and then the next
day she's all bandaged up. They think maybe her dad beats her but no one can
be sure. She had a twin brother when she was born but he died and it made her
dad go a bit wacko. She's really... different. Oh well."
"What's wrong with being different?" Kanpeki murmured, her eyes focusing
on someone else walking to school. Michiru didn't notice who.
"Haruka..." Michiru murmured. That name seemed familiar somehow... after
a few minutes, they turned a corner and lost sight of Haruka. "What else do
you know about her?"
Kirei chuckled and looked at her slyly. "Why do you want to know?"
"I'm curious, that's all," Michiru said irritably, turning her face away
to hide her blush. "She looks like... a good subject for a painting."
 
 
 
"I'll ask around for you, if you want, and you could talk to her aunt,"
Kirei offered.
"Thanks, onee-san."
Kirei grinned. "I'm just hoping that I'll find out more about that cute
guy she was walking with! On second thought, who cares if he's younger good
looking as he is! I wonder what his name is..."
 
 
"Haruka-chan! Are you listening?" Sai prodded. "We ran into each other
a few months ago and you still won't talk to me. C'mon, it's been several
years since we really talked. Don't you have anything to say to me?"
"Leave me alone," Haruka mumbled, her eyes focused on where she was
walking, refusing to even look at him. "I don't want to talk. You know
that."
"Haruka-chan! Geez, you've changed. Oh well. At least tell me how you've
been. You never tell me that, either."
"Go away," she muttered, picking up her pace. Sai continued to follow
her. Haruka was very irritated with him. Why wouldn't he leave her alone?
She thought it was obvious that she didn't want to see him. She quivered
as she starting jogging to try to get away from him. He might have been
her friend once, but she couldn't let him near her again. He could hurt
her, just like Katai... Katai still beat her every several days when he
got mad; not as badly as he had that first time, he hit her back mostly
because no one would notice the marks there, while if he hit her face
and limbs people would start to wonder. That isn't to say he never did,
he only did once in awhile to keep suspicions down. Sunao tried talking
with Haruka to ask her what was wrong; she'd become so withdrawn she
rarely said anything unless it was necessary. Teinei was obviously
worried as well. She would come visit sometimes and try to get Haruka to
talk to her, but Haruka clammed up and wouldn't say a thing. Haruka's
grandparents on both sides would occasionally visit, but Haruka stayed
in her room; she couldn't remember the last time she'd said anything
besides "Hello" to them.
Her old friend had been trying for months to be her friend again, but she
couldn't let him be friends with her or she'd risk getting hurt even more.
Haruka was a bit nervous with the way he kept looking at her. Did he have
an interest in her of some sort?
Haruka hated it when people looked at her, especially boys. At first she
thought she was just being immature; she was fourteen now so why should
she care? After awhile it dawned on her what was going on. She noticed all
the other girls paid attention to the boys, talking about how cute they
were and how they wanted to go out with them. Haruka never cast a second
glance at boys, never had and probably never would. She _did_ notice the
girls though. Haruka was nervous as hell when she realized that her
interest in them was more than just friendly. God, what was she?! She had
to stay in her home and get beaten by Katai, she was interested in girls,
what else could go wrong for her?!
Haruka stumbled a bit on the pavement but picked up her pace until she
reached her school. Sai was in her class and sat near her, and she
wanted to get there first so she wouldn't have to deal with him trying
to grab her arm while going to her seat. Why did he do that? On the first
day, he'd shown up in her class and was clearly excited to see her, and
had made sure to get a seat by her. Every time she walked by, he reached
to touch her and she swatted him away. Haruka was very irritated with him
and ignored him frequently, but he kept prodding her and bugging her no
matter what she did.
She took her seat and then Sai came in to take his. The bell rang for
homeroom to begin. Once roll was taken, the teacher gave everyone
permission to talk. "Hey Haruka-chan," Sai said, "my parents and your
mom agreed to let me come over to see you today after school, so I'm
going to go home with you, okay?"
Haruka gritted her teeth. Great... her mom couldn't get her to talk, was
she trying to set her up with someone now? "I don't want you to come
over," she growled.
"Too bad!" Sai said gleefully. "Besides, I need to have a talk with you,"
he added quietly. "In private."
Haruka felt a wave of disgust and nausea go through her. No... no way...
Maybe he didn't feel that way... she hoped she was wrong about this.
Homeroom ended, and she headed to the locker room for P.E. Going to her
locker, she grabbed her clothes, then promptly went to the bathrooms to
change. She couldn't risk anyone seeing the marks on her back and reporting
it. She desperately wanted to seek help, to find someone to tell to get her
father sent away, but she was too afraid that if she told someone, the
authorities wouldn't come quick enough and Katai would just beat her
senseless, maybe kill her. She shivered as she changed her clothes into her
P.E. uniform and went back to her locker to put her clothes away. She could
hear the other girls whispering about her; "Isn't Ten'ou-san odd? Why does
she always go change alone? Is she afraid to be seen?" "That's stupid, what
does it matter?! We're all girls." "I see her looking at you sometimes, I
think she's a le--" "Shut up! That's sick!" "Yuck! No way!"
Haruka curled up her legs and rested her face against her knees. When
would this torture be over? She hated coming in here, with all these
girls standing around her changing. It made her _very_ uncomfortable.
It seemed like _everything_ nowadays made her insecure.
When would her life finally be over?
 
 
Michiru practically ran home from school that day. She'd found out a lot
of things about Haruka today, and she couldn't wait to get home. It was
a Friday; maybe she could convince Ki to let her go meet Haruka's aunt,
Teinei, then she could talk with Teinei and find out more about Haruka!
As she flung open the door to the house, Kirei screaming from behind her
to slow down, she couldn't help but wonder just why she was having these
thoughts towards another girl, but shrugged it off. Gender didn't matter
to her, now that she thought about it. From what she'd learned about
Haruka, Haruka was an incredibly interesting person.
"Okaa-san! Okaa-san! Where are you?!" Michiru had already shut the door behind
her and entered the living room. Kirei grumbling afterwards on having the door
shut in her face while Kanpeki had a strange grin on her face.
"I'm right here," Ki said from somewhere behind her. "There's no need to
shout."
"Can I go over to our neighbor's house, please?"
"Sure, but shouldn't you practice your violin first?"
"... all right..."
"I'll go over to their house and ask them to come over. I have to return
a cookbook anyways."
Michiru breathed a sigh of relief as Ki left the house, her heart
pounding fast. All she had to do was get her playing over with, then she
could go speak to Teinei. But then again, would Teinei want to talk to
her? Sure, she was new to the neighborhood and it could be seen as her
wanting to get to know her neighbors better, but what if Teinei just got
mad?
She figured she had better worry about that later and go get her violin
before Ki and her parents got back. She headed up the stairs, taking her
time as she went. As she passed Suteki's room, she heard Kirei talking
with her and paused briefly to listen. The door was shut, so they wouldn't
know she was there, but she could still hear them well.