Fires And Family | Paradox Live

When It Happened - 1

Himari paced frantically in her dorm room. She had tried both Iori and Zen's phones multiple times as well as the others occasionally in between. Nobody was answering her.

It was two hours until sunrise and Himari had been up for hours trying to reach someone from the family. Anyone. Reality was hitting her hard and she was completely alone, miles away from home. She had already booked tickets on the first train home and had packed the essentials she would need. She checked the time in the corner of her phone screen. Three more hours until the train. Would she be able to get anyone before then?

Himari wished she had checked the news earlier. She could have gotten an earlier train. Instead, after her final paper for the semester she had returned to her room and collapsed in bed, ready to sleep off the week's intensive studying. She awoke only around ten feeling hungry, made herself some instant noodles and pulled out her phone to go through the trending news.

The very first thing she saw was an article giving an update on the Suiseki case. Initially she had assumed it would be another raid or something. It wasn't that uncommon for her to see her family name in the news. But when she opened and read through the article, a feeling like a boulder dropped into her stomach and stayed there, heavy, cold and unmoving.

Her father was the first person she tried to call, even as she continued to read several more articles confirming his death. It just couldn't be. Then she came across an article with a small video clip of the assumed sole survivors. Reo was the first person she recognised in the video. She broke down on seeing him crying. Satsuki and Hokusai came next, clearly distraught as well. Media persons swarmed around the three of them, mercilessly shoving cameras and microphones into their faces. Then Iori and Zen emerged from what Himari now realised was the nearly destroyed front gate of her home. Iori, his face like thunder, wrapped his arms around Reo and Satsuki's shoulders and pushed his way through the crowd with Zen and Hokusai behind him.

The video cut off at that point. Himari immediately began attempting to call someone from the house. They could tell her the articles were exaggerating as usual. They would tell her the truth.
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In the end Himari couldn't reach anyone. She caught her train still completely in the dark about what to expect once she got home. There was no way it was true. She had to find out what was really going on.

When she found herself outside the police cordons on the street she had lived her entire life, Himari accepted that something major had happened. That still didn't mean her father was dead. Not yet.

Unable to get into her own home, Himari immediately set out for Iori's. She had nowhere else to go. But on reaching the house she found the gate locked and the house silent with all its lights off. Clearly no one was home, and now Himari was lost. She still wasn't getting any answer to her calls. She was outside Iori's empty house with no idea where he or the others were, when they would be back or even if they would be back. She had no idea what was going on except that more people than her brain could realistically refute were saying that her father was dead.

The enormity of the moment came crashing down on Himari. She sank slowly to the ground by the gate and curled into herself, arms on her knees to shield her face from the world.

She couldn't say how long she had been sitting like that or when the tears began. The next thing she became aware of after taking up her position was a car driving up to the gate and stopping.

"Himari!"

"Himari-chan!"

Himari raised her head just as a pair of hands caught her by the arms. Iori knelt before her looking worried, Zen looking over his shoulder. Himari's eyes traveled over to the boys standing a little way behind Zen. They all looked like they had been crying as well. Himari straightened her back, folded her legs under her and looked straight at Iori.

"I couldn't reach anyone," she said, her voice shaking. "Where have you guys been?"

Zen answered this. "At the police station. They wanted us to answer some questions."

Iori shook Himari slightly. "Nevermind that. What are you doing here?"

Himari opened her mouth to say she had to come as no one would call her back, but no words came out. Fighting back a lung-wracking sob, Himari leaned forward until her face rested against Iori's shoulder.

"It's true, isn't it?" Her voice was so small Himari wondered if Iori would even hear her. But he did.

"I'm sorry, Himari," he said softly.
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A funeral was held at the end of the week, with Iori and Himari as the lead mourners. Himari felt sure that she wouldn't have been able to handle all the arrangements and formalities if Iori hadn't been there to help, just like with so many other things, like living situation and emotional support. Everyone pitched in on looking after each other, of course, but Iori was working twice as hard. It seemed to be his way of coping.

And yet, even as the incident and the investigation into it seemed to have pulled Himari and the others closer together, a distance had started to form between her and Iori. It wasn't a visible one; Iori still treated her with the same kindness he always had, and with a certain care and attentiveness he had gained of late. But to Himari, who had known him the longest, Iori had disappeared in a sense.

Around Zen and the kids he put up a good front. He was still their strong older brother, their Aniki who would continue to look after and protect them. In public he was Iori Suiseki - angry at the world and the ones who had done this to his family, making every effort to ensure the investigation gave him answers and his remaining family closure. He took on the mantle of being her father's successor with ease. No one who saw him could dare say that he let what happened affect the actions or future of the Suiseki group. From what Himari later heard from Fuyu, other gangs even held a kind of respect for Iori and the strength he displayed.

Despite all of that, Himari could tell that something was amiss. It was in the way he maintained an empty smile around the house, and in the way he ensured that everyone had everything they needed. There was a hint of it in the ruthless expression on his face during the entirety of the funeral as well as each of his dealings with the police. It was the storm that followed him everywhere he went but refused to rain or thunder or break even in the slightest.

The anger was too real, the attentiveness too sweet. Iori was letting himself be consumed.

Himari could see it happening, but at that moment she was still too damaged herself to be able to do anything for Iori. She would have to wait and see.