A Song For Another Time - A Hikaru Hitachiin Story

Chapter Nineteen - The Walls are Caving in

The next few days played through the same trope for Rose as she shut the world out. As hard as she tried to make a barrier out of her comforter and a sacred island of calm out of her bed, Hikaru and Kaoru constantly broke through. Each day they filled her phone's inbox with messages and her dorm room now looked like a floral boutique. It had been a good week for that florist, at least.

Much to her chagrin, those boys were making the exact sort of impact they had intended. Even though those Hitachiins were, in fact, the most annoying pair of brothers Rose had ever had the misfortune to encounter, their care and commitment hadn't gone unnoticed. They had made such an impact over the week that she decided to keep her phone on, even if she didn't answer every call - and to them, that was progress.

By Thursday evening Rose began to feel restless and, honestly, a little disappointed in herself. It was a tough emotional battle that was raging inside her head - the desire to seclude because of trauma against the self realization of how much time she wasting by remaining in bed. As if the aftermath of the event wasn't enough to handle on its own.

As Hikaru and Kaoru kept pestering her, Rose half wondered why they even bothered. She felt completely worthless while at the same time she was angry at herself for feeling that way. With such chaos raining down inside her, was there even anything left to care for?

A knock on her door brought her out of the dark abyss and she rolled her eyes as she pushed off of her bed. No doubt a ginger was waiting outside her door with some lame excuse for checking up on her. She jumped back a little in surprise when she opened the door to a towering man.

"Mori?"

"I brought your assignments," he said, holding them out to her. "You've missed two classes. I thought you'd want to catch up before class tomorrow."

Words refused to form on Rose's tongue as she reached out and took the papers from her classmate's hand. Did the twins send him to check on her? Did they tell him what had happened? Had he been collecting the assignments for her all week? Why was he so sure she'd be back tomorrow?

"Uhh, uhm, th-thank you," she stuttered.

He reached out and ruffled her hair. "No problem," he said and then turned away. He didn't make it two steps before he paused, as if thinking something over, and turned around.

"See you tomorrow," he said before turning and walking down the hall.

Rose stepped back into her room and placed the papers on her desk. She stared at them a while, still standing behind her desk chair. They were just assignments- for one class - but right now they signified so much more. If she sat down and did them, then she was going to class tomorrow, but if she turned out her lamp and went back to bed, she could keep hiding from the world.

A heavy sigh escaped her as she slowly sat down in her chair and leafed through the papers. She was just looking. Looking at them didn't mean she was going to do them. Her hands moved smoothly over the papers as her dark eyes moved back and forth over their contents, analyzing how much work she'd have ahead of her. Just before she reached the last page a small, light blue paper fluttered out from between the pages and landed on her floor.

Curiosity filled her eyes as she stared at the unexpected addition to her homework. She bent down, picked it off the floor and turned it around in search of some explanation. On the lined side of the stationary was a handwritten note with two distinct handwritings scrawled across it.

In very meticulous writing read: "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear. -FDR"

A personal note sat below it, in a very messy and flowery penmanship.

Ro-Chan, Hika-Chan and Kao-Chan won't tell us what's going on, but Takashi and I know you wouldn't miss class for a small reason. We just wanted to let you know that you have us looking out for you. Things may be hard right now, but that doesn't mean they won't get better.

Just remember, you don't have to be perfect to face the world. You can hurt and still move forward. Being in pain doesn't make you any less of a person.

Have courage.

- <3 Honey & Mori

Those idiots, Rose thought as she brushed away the tears that were slowly rolling down her cheeks. Who asked them to butt in?

Without thinking, Rose set the note on the top right corner of her desk and took up a pencil in her right hand. She set to work on the top paper in her stack and kept going through the sheets until her eyelids began to droop.

Her back ached a bit and she sat up straight, pushing her arms above her head in a mild stretch. Looking over at the clock, she realized it was just past midnight. A small smile snuck its way onto her face. There was an absurd amount of comfort in the idea that she had gotten lost in the work - like she was already back to her old ways.

But as soon as the assignments were over and her mind was free to roam, the dread set back in. It wasn't like she was under the impression, before, that the world was a safe place, but experiencing that world yourself was a whole different monster than considering the possibility of it.

A part of her knew her monster was going to follow her around for the rest of her life. This wasn't something you just got over. She was going to be damned, though, if she was going to let a selfish jackass and his roaming hands get in the way of her future. He'd be lucky to even be a footnote in the story of her success.

Rose looked at the clock one last time and grabbed her phone. She set an alarm for the first time in several days and tucked herself into her bed. She was going to face tomorrow with determination.

If she couldn't push away the pain, then she would let it fuel her.

Just as she was about to give into sleep, her phone vibrated in her hand. Groaning, she raised her head slightly and looked at the message on her screen.

We're taking you to dinner tomorrow night. Be ready by 7 pm. Wear something nice. -H & K

"Typical," Rose murmured and laid her head down. For the first time that week, it was a restful sleep.