Fires And Family | Paradox Live

9

Himari woke late in the night with an intense headache and feeling like she had been lying under the desert sun for weeks. It was a feeling she hated, which is why she didn't drink like this very often. It was probably the hangover making her brain all fuzzy, but Himari took longer than she'd care to admit to realise that the arm around her and the feeling of someone's cheek pressed against her head weren't Iori's.

Shifting a little closer to Chika, Himari reflected that it had been years since she'd slept over with any of her friends. They did meet occasionally since most of them still lived around the same area, and they'd spent girl's nights out on the town too, but they'd always went their separate ways at the end of it. Iori had met her at the door after one such night saying something about how cute she was drunk. Himari smiled at the memory.

It felt nice to be spending the night away from home for once. If she imagined her other girl friends from high school she could almost believe it was just another weekend from back then. Chika, Fuyu, Akemi and herself, drinking as an act of rebellion against whatever it was that they were always so mad about back then. Himari wondered what Fuyu and Akemi were doing at that moment.

Especially Fuyu... She'd been the only one to move away after high school. They heard from her now and then and she seemed happy enough, but Himari always wondered. So much of their life mirrored each other so perfectly, it was hard for Himari to not see herself in Fuyu; hard to not see what her life might have turned into.
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"You can't be serious..." Chika was clutching at the strap of her school bag like it was a lifeline. "Don't do it, Fuyu. Listen, we'll think of something. Right?" She looked around at the other girls for support. "We could all run away together. None of us want to be here anyway, we can find a place just for us somewhere - "

"It's no use, Chika-chan." Akemi looked almost angry. "I tried. She won't listen."

"Fuyu!" Chika wasn't going to give up. She never did like to. "This isn't right. They can't force you - "

Fuyu laughed softly.

"What are you laughing about? This is serious!"

Himari swallowed, trying to dispel the pain in her throat as the truth sank into her. "Chika-chan," she said, barely audible over the sounds of the graduation ceremony. It was enough to get Chika's attention, however. "They can if they want to..." Himari continued. "And that's what they're doing, isn't it Fuyu-chan?"

Fuyu wouldn't look her in the eye. She continued to smile at the ground. "It's not all bad, you know? I mean, we're not moving very far. We'll still be able to see each other now and then."

"Stop kidding around! This isn't about that!" Chika was furious. "I don't care where you move to, you can go live on Mars for all I care! But I..." She looked around again, seemingly lost for words. "I need to know... That you're happy."

That was too much for Akemi. She suddenly burst into tears and ran away from the little group. Chika watched her go, tears sliding down her own cheeks unhindered. It was easy to tell that Chika wasn't the type to cry often because now that she was, she clearly didn't know what she was supposed to do about it. Fuyu looked over her shoulder at the black car that had rolled up fifteen minutes ago. The man leaning against it tapped his watch. Fuyu nodded and turned back.

"Don't cry, Chika-chan," she said. "I promise I'll be happy. We'll meet up someday and you'll see! I haven't given up on my dreams yet, you know?"

The black car honked loudly. Fuyu closed her eyes, took a deep breath and smiled again. Suddenly she threw her arms around Chika and Himari.

"Bye bye," she whispered to them. And then she was gone, running to the car that then swallowed her up and whisked her away.

"Oi, Himari-chan," a familiar voice called from behind them. Himari hurriedly wiped away her tears and took Chika's hand to try to comfort her. Iori walked up at that moment. "What's keeping you - "

He noticed. Thankfully, he didn't say anything. Not about the tears anyway. He threw his cigarette to the ground and stepped on it saying, "Boss is waiting in the car. Kumino-san, do you need a ride home?"

Chika threw him a vicious glare over her shoulder. She wrenched her hand from Himari's and stormed away towards the school. Himari was about to follow when Iori put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her. "Sometimes it's better to let a person hide, if that's what they want," he said gently.

Himari nodded and took a deep, shaky breath. When she spoke, her voice sounded thick, giving away the fact that she'd been crying. "Let's go then. Dad is waiting, right?"

Iori didn't move. He studied Himari's face in silence. "You sure?"

Himari couldn't take it anymore. Her face crumpled as more tears began to flow and she collapsed to her knees, hugging her arms around herself. Iori crouched down before her. "You want to hide too?"

Himari nodded.

Iori stood again with a sigh and pulled out his phone. He dialled what she guessed was her father's number and walked a short distance away. After a short conversation, he returned.

"I told Boss you wanted to go to some cafe with your friends," he said. He tucked the phone back into his pocket and grabbed Himari's arm, pulling her carefully up off the ground. "He's fine with it. Said he's proud of you, by the way. For graduating."

Himari sobbed harder.
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Iori had taken her to his house that day - the same house they all lived in now. Back then only he, Zen and Hokusai lived there. It wasn't the first time she'd been there either. It had become sort of a bolt-hole for her when she didn't want to go home for whatever reason. She'd grown to feel safe there. Iori never judged and wouldn't press her with too many questions if she didn't want him to. He let her have her space to sort things out herself. The house had been a safe space for her where she could go to spend some time with Iori, Zen and Hokusai until she felt better enough to go home. They even kept a room just for her so that she could have privacy if she wanted.

She'd cried that day, more than she ever had until then. For hours she lay curled up under a blanket sobbing quietly to herself, calming a little and then crying again. When she finally cried herself to sleep, no one disturbed her. She woke up some hours later, hungry and with her eyes sore. When she wandered out of her room to the kitchen she found all three members of the house gathered there. Hokusai had immediately given her a reassuring hug and Zen had jumped up to make her something to eat. Iori, seated at the table, had put down the newspaper he had been reading and informed her that he'd told her father where she was since he was starting to worry, but hadn't told him anything more.

They were very kind about the whole situation. Himari had gone home after eating and talked to her father about it. It wasn't until years later that she had finally told Iori what it had been about: how Fuyu was being made to marry someone by her parents and that she would be moving away from them. How all Fuyu wanted was to find a man she loved and settle down with him and that she hadn't loved the man her parents had forced upon her. How her tears were for both Fuyu and herself: a twisted mixture of sadness and relief.

Because that could so easily have been her instead of Fuyu.