Ouran- Fragments No. 7

FRAYED

At the end of one road is a quiet settlement that is the end of the line. There is nothing beyond it but dense, uninhabitable forest that will eventually lead you straight off a cliff if you walk too far. The settlement itself is very small, encompassing only about 300 or so feet. It's really more like a single street than anything else. Those who reside there have their basic needs met, with food easy to come by from either hunting or going into one of the bigger towns several miles off. The conditions aren't all the comfortable- most of them haven't had a truly warm blanket in years- but they make due, and they've done well thus far.

Today is a very big day. The oldest resident of the settlement, who also happens to be a doctor whose saved at least half of the other resident's lives at one point or another, is celebrating her 70th birthday. For her advanced age, she is a spry woman. Her pepper gray hair is cut short, falling around her eyes, but never obstructing her view. She can always be seen with her trust first aid kit in hand. The official supplies it came in ran out ages ago, but she makes due with what can be purchased and what she can make herself. As the settlement is abuzz with preparations for her 'Surprise' party, she wanders around, checking everyone's work and ready to help out if someone gets hurt. Her middle aged daughter and son-in-law have given up trying to make her go inside. She's not one to change her mind once it's been made up, and she's decided she's going to stay and watch no matter what they say. It's not just for her job, though. She absolutely deplores the color orange and has to make sure none of the makeshift decorations wind up that color.

She comes across one of the men in the settlement. He's not as familiar to her as the rest, having only arrived about a month ago. He's a tall, silent fellow, and strong as an ox as well. Here he is carrying seven boxes all by himself. How he can see where he's going is beyond her, but he easily side-steps without a single box shifting position.

"Oh, Dear, isn't all that too heavy for you?" she calls after him.

He doesn't answer with more than a grunt, and she doesn't know what that's supposed to mean. She might think it an insult, but he hadn't sounded rude about it, just distracted.

He puts them all down in front of the old church building, that's slightly caved in and isn't used for much anymore. He removes each one from the pile and places them in a neat row. Inside are old antiques and knick knacks found in the basements of various houses. She doesn't know how good any of that stuff could be after all this time or what good they would be for her birthday party, but she trusts her loving family to know what they're doing. Maybe something in those boxes would be good enough to give her as a present. Maybe she could sneak a peek herself later and find something for her daughter's birthday. It was only two months away.

The tall man straightens and looks out, stretching his back to get the kinks out as he blows air out his nose. He turns to face her, and she smiles warmly at him. He doesn't return it. He's not even looking at her now, it's like she's invisible to him. She's beginning to think he really is just rude when his hands drop to his sides, and his mouth opens wide like he's completely dumbstruck.

She turns herself, to see just what he could be looking at, but there is nothing of interest aside from more trees, the road into town, and her son-in-law chatting with a trio of travelers. Two of them are identical, probably twins, but that's about the only thing special she could see.

"Is something wrong?" she asks the tall man.

He walks right by her without a word.

**
Haruhi is angry with herself. She doubts she could be angrier thank Kaoru is at himself because he's the one who picked this path in the first place, but the point still stands.

The tiny town they've found themselves in is alive with people walk to and froe. Some carry boxes as baskets, some shout directions at others, some look like they're just taking a leisurely stroll, enjoying the warm, sunny day. They have nothing beyond their borders, that's the first thing the man they're speaking to said. He's a man in his forties or fifties with graying black hair and a noticeable paunch. He isn't carrying anything more than a basket full of yellow flowers that look newly picked.

"And you're sure no one has come through here recently?" Hikaru says, stressing key words.

The man frowns, and gives a sympathetic shake of his head.

"No one like what you're describing," he says. "You three are the first visitors we've had in over a month. I'm so sorry I can't be of more help."

The man excuses himself, leaving them with nothing but an invitation to stay the night and 'join the festivities.' No one bothers to ask what's being celebrated.

"Great," Kaoru says, hanging his head. "Just great."

He stoops over against an old, rotting telephone pole. Bits of wood are shaken off and land in his hair. Kaoru doesn't notice, so Hikaru brushes them off.

"Don't be like that," he says to his brother. "At least we didn't have to walk far to get here. That means it'll be easy to get to that other road. And now we know that's definitely where they went."

Haruhi didn't know about Kaoru, but that certainly reassured her. She hadn't forgotten about little time it had taken them to get there (only five or six hours), but standing here now, her feet aching all for nothing, it feels like they're going to be walking for days on end to get back to where they started. She wants to just lay down on the ground and fall asleep. She wouldn't care who saw or who had to step over her. Actually, it might be a good idea to take that man up on his offer to let them stay the night.

"Hikaru's right, Kaoru," she says reassuringly. "We're one step closer to finding Hunny-senpai. It's going to be okay."

She rubs his arm softly. He looks up at her, still looking defeated, but perhaps a little less so. He's in full view of Haruhi, who sees up close as his expression morphs. He's eyes regain their light and start to bulging; his skin loses color; his mouth falls open.

"Oh my God…"

He stares at something that only he can see. Haruhi looks at the equally baffled Hikaru. He shakes his head at her. Whatever twin telepathy he might share with Kaoru is failing him right now. Haruhi hears someone coming, and sees a long, dark shadow looming over them, and she turns around.

And knows exactly what has Kaoru struck dumb.

"Mori-senpai…"

He stops in front of them, tall and broad as he's ever been. With all of them kneeling, he has to look all the way down to see them, while they have to crane their necks up. He doesn't look much different beyond the obligatory ten years of aging. There are bags under his eyes like he's short on sleep, and his hands- level with Haruhi's face- are covered in dirt and calluses that remind her of her own.

"It's you," he says. His voice is as deep as she remembers. It's like receiving a bear hug, hearing it again.

Haruhi finds herself grinning and she can't stop.

The twins are in a similar, if more exuberant state.

"MORI-SENPAI!"

As one, they jump to their feet and wrap their arms around his waist. Mori-senpai isn't expecting it and jumps back, sending them spinning. They don't mind, they just hold on tighter.

"MORI-SENPAI! MORI-SENPAI!"

"Come on, guys!" Haruhi follows off to the side, half reaching to pull the both of them off. "You're going to hurt him."

"I'm fine," Mori says. He stops moving stands completely still.

Hikaru and Kaoru slowly fall off of him and onto the ground, face first. They lay there for a few seconds, during which time Mori-senpai places a hand on Haruhi's head and another on her shoulder.

"I'm so glad you're all alright," he says softly.

His eyes flick away a little, at Hikaru and Kaoru as they pick themselves up. Haruhi sees Mori-senpai wince. He must have just noticed Hikaru's scars. If he did, he isn't saying a word. He goes and does the same thing to each twin in turn, and he doesn't linger with either one of them.

Following the initial shock and tears and hugs, the reunion with Mori-senpai goes a lot like Haruhi's with the twins. They walk the single street up and down while Mori moves one heavy thing after another. He hasn't spoken again, but Haruhi picks up from the random snippets of conversations going on around them that it's somebody important's birthday today and they're getting ready to celebrate. Haruhi feels a hint of sadness. Birthdays have been pretty much ignored in The Building. They only pay attention to the children's, and usually they don't even have gifts to give. The birthday girl is supposedly an elderly woman and the settlement's unofficial doctor, so she supposes it makes sense that they'd want to honor her special day.

"So Mori-senpai, this is were you're living now?" she asks.

Mori, who is carrying now empty boxes away from an old church (several people are fishing through the contents of said boxes), doesn't answer.

"Are you just passing through, like us?"

He doesn't answer.

Haruhi is reminded that Mori-senpai was never exactly a motor mouth and that she shouldn't be that surprised by his being tight-lipped. There is something very big bothering her though. She glances at Hikaru and Kaoru, who look just as lost as she does, and just as afraid to come out and ask.

They follow him to an old shack at the edge of the settlement. It's old, but in good shape; the windows are fully intact. Inside is a mess of more boxes, old car parts, piles of dead leaves and broken sporting equipment. There is only a tiny spot clear for walking, and it's nothing for someone as tall as Mori. He doesn't even walk it, just throws the boxes into a corner and closes the door right as they crash into another pile of junk.

He walks back to the street with everyone trailing after him. He never slows down, leaving them to almost run in order to keep up with his long strides. Haruhi expects him to go for another pile to carry somewhere, but instead, Mori makes a right turn to an empty picnic table that looks like it's just been set up. He sits down, the wood creaks underneath him. Haruhi and the twins sit on either side of him, making an ever loud and more high pitched noise.

Mori leans forwards, hands clasped out in front of him. His face is pensive. Haruhi's fingers scratch against the wood. She sees Hikaru and Kaoru's questioning gazes and doesn't need to ask, she just needs to nod her head. There is no more beating around the bush. She pulls out the flier.

"Mori-senpai," she begins weakly. The filer is bunched up in her hand. She makes a quick effort to unfold and smooth it out while Mori looks over her shoulder with only the most mild interest. She gets it to a mostly legible form and hands it to him fast, before she loses the nerve. "We found this hung up in a town we passed a couple of days ago."

Mori reads the flier silently. His three friends watch him closely, waiting with baited breath for him to speak or stand up or make any sort of reaction at all. He does nothing. Nothing but let the flier fall to the ground and get picked up by the wind. It's not very strong today, doing little more than blow it in circles at their feet. No one tries to pick it up.

"Mori-senpai, we're not sure, but we think this is Hunny-senpai," Kaoru says.

Mori remains silent.

"We're trying to find him," Hikaru goes on. He doesn't sound very sure of himself, but Haruhi doubts any of them would with how Mori-senpai is acting. "We came here because we thought whoever's holding him might have come through here. And now we have another idea about where they might be, so…"

Mori sits up. Hikaru immediately stops talking as the three of them unconsciously lean forward. Mori is staring off into space, same as before, but his eyes are clearer now, more alert. He reaches into his shirt pocket and pulls out two pieces of paper. Haruhi doesn't understand until he flashes the one on top, and she sees Mori's face, ten years younger, smiling at the camera. On his back is a small blond boy holding a bunny rabbit, whose grin takes up his entire face. Something rises up in Haruhi's throat.

Hunny-senpai…

"It's been six years," Mori says, so quietly, it doesn't even sound like his voice. "I lost him… we were attacked while traversing the forests. Normally, we could've taken them easily, but I had developed a fever from the cold, and there were more than what we were used to… I blacked out, and when I came to, I was alone in a brush."

He suddenly looks even older.

"I've been searching all this time, and I've never found him."

He folds up the pictures and puts them away. Then he laces his fingers again and goes back to staring at nothing. Haruhi scoots closer, placing a hand on his leg. His eyes flick to her.

"Mori-senpai… we really do think this is him. We're going to find him. Will you come with us?"

He looks at her. Then he looks at Hikaru and Kaoru. Then he look out again and appears to be deliberating. Why he would need to, Haruhi doesn't know. She would've thought he'd say yes right away, but it occurs to her that there might be more to the story than he's letting on, and that there have always been aspects to his and Hunny-senpai's bond that cannot be understood. One small, horribly pessimistic part of her rears it's ugly head for a brief, shining moment and makes her think he'll say no.

And it takes more time, but a ghost of a smile forms.

"Of course, I will."

Haruhi lets out a breath. It sounds loud and layered to her ears, and she realizes she wasn't the only one holding it in. Hikaru and Kaoru are so happy, they look ready to pounce on Mori again. As if sensing this, Mori stands up and away from them. They seem more than a little disappointed.

Haruhi ignores them, getting up and following her former upperclassmen.

"We can leave tonight, if you want," she says.

Mori stops and slumps over for a second before standing up tall again.

"I can't," he says.

Haruhi's smile vanishes.

"I can't leave tonight, I mean," he elaborates quickly. "I want to… I want to, but I can't. I made a commitment to help out here today. I can't break it."

'Hunny-senpai wouldn't want it,' is what Haruhi sees between the lines. She could very well be wrong, but for now, that's the reasoning she's sticking with. She doesn't feel too comfortable asking outright.

Hikaru and Kaoru don't seem any more thrilled about it than she is, but like her, they aren't going to argue. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"We'll help out too, I guess," Hikaru says, and Kaoru agrees with him.

"Better than sitting around and doing nothing until it's time to sleep."

Mori just nods his head. Haruhi gets the distinct feeling that his moment of uncharacteristic talkativeness has come to an end.

He waves to a man a woman down the street, who appear to be arguing over some flowers in an old, cracked vase. Haruhi recognizes the man as the one they'd tried to get directions from before. The woman, she assumes to be his wife. They are both well kept, for their conditions. The woman's floral print dress is relatively unstained and lacking in holes. It looks like something her Dad might wear on a casual day out during the Spring or Summer. The couple meets them in the center, by that old church building. They exchange pleasantries with Mori, who speaks only long enough to introduce Haruhi, Hikaru and Kaoru to them. The couple happily greets them with a bow and gives their names as Keiko and Yosuke.

"I suppose you three found your way here for a reason," Yosuke says. "Most of us can only dream of finding our old friends and loved ones again."

Once chit-chat is over, the three of them are put to work. Hikaru is sent to help scavenge through the old junk Mori found; Kaoru goes inside the main building to help clean up. Haruhi is led away by Keiko, and brought to an elderly woman who is arguing with a man holding a colorful piece of tarp with an unfinished 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' message written on it in chalk. She's saying something about the color orange, but Haruhi doesn't hear much of the fight when Keiko pulls her aside.

"That's my mother. She's the one we're throwing the party for," she says. "I'd like you to please keep her busy until tonight. She's a bit nosy when it comes to things like this, and I'd like to have at least a few surprises for her."

Keiko leaves her with those words and a grateful smile and pat on the shoulder before running off to handle something else. Haruhi thinks for a moment about calling her back and asking what, exactly, is going to keep this woman busy. From the looks of her, she's not that stereotypical old lady who is happy with just a cup of tea and a game of shuffleboard. Haruhi shrugs and turns to face her 'charge,' but is met by a man standing right in her path, covering her view of anything but him.

"Mori-senpai, what is it?" she says, looking up into his eyes.

Wordlessly, Mori takes out the photo from before. He puts away the one on top that he showed them before and hands her the second one. Haruhi takes it, and her breath catches when she looks at the image. Seven smiling faces stare back at her, one of them her own. She can see Hikaru and Kaoru on one side, Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai on the other, Kyoya-senpai is in the middle. And in front of them all is her and Tamaki-senpai. If she looks close enough, she could even see the place where their hands almost touched. Her heart skips a beat, and then it starts to hurt. And then she wants to cry.

"This is the day we went to the carnival," she says as it finally comes to her. "I lost my copy when…"

She can't finish.

Mori nods. "I've held on to it. I thought you might like to have it now."

Haruhi looks at the photo, knowing that she can't keep it, that she should give it back to him. The day they had it taken, Kyoya had paid extra to get more than the usual two copies. He'd wanted one for each of them, though he never said as much. This was Mori's copy, had must have helped him on those many lonely nights.

Thing is, Haruhi can't give it back either. She's more selfish than she realized, it seems. Half of these faces, she hasn't seen in years, and all of them she once believed she never would again. Whatever happens in the coming days, she can't let them go now that she has them again. Her fingers that hold the photo up can never be pried open.

"Thank you, Mori-senpai."

She walks away from him, and tells herself it's so she can get to work and not because she's afraid he'll change his mind.

**
The old woman's name is Rihoko, as she reveals to Haruhi over an hour into their long and tedious tour of the infirmary she's set up inside an old community center. There is no high tech gadgetry (none that works, anyway), but there are ten patients taking up half of the twenty beds in various stages of illness and injury. Rihoko insists that Haruhi meet them all.

The first man is 72 year old Rensuke Takahama, in with a simple cold bug. He doesn't have to be here, but he doesn't want his grandkids to get sick too. From the longing looks he gives Rihoko when her back is turned, Haruhi suspects there's more too it than that.

The second man is 22 year old Akira Kafugi, who has a sprained wrist. He looks at Haruhi the way Rensuke looks at Rihoko, but it doesn't bother her much, especially after he starts talking about what a cute name Haruhi is for 'such a cute young man.'

The first woman is 54 year old Sugumi Ororo, a woman who frequently suffers back and joint pain. The lack of painkillers is hard on her, and she takes to alcohol to numb the pain. Haruhi doesn't know how to take the apparent lack of shortage in that.

In goes on from there, and Haruhi begins to tune out. When introductions are down, Rihoko declares it time to strip and re-dress the empty beds with newly washed sheets. Haruhi is on bed number three when Rihoko offers to let her have a five minute break. Haruhi thanks her and goes to sit in a chair in the corner of the room. She watches Rihoko go to take Rensuke's temperature and politely ignore another bout of compliments from the man.

"I'm sorry, Rensuke-san. You're sweet, but… well, you're just too old for me."

Haruhi doesn't see Rensuke's response, but dimly catches a choked gasp of pain. She isn't focusing on the real world right now, but in the one captured permanently on film that reminds her of a much happier time. She loses track of time staring at the photo, remembering Tamaki-senpai's crazy antics and Kyoya-senpai's miserly ways and Hunny-senpai's endless energy and Mori-senpai's stoicism and Hikaru and Kaoru's jokes…

She comes back to reality when clacking heels resonate behind her.

"Breaks over, Hon, time to work."

Haruhi gets to her feet, leaving the photo on the table for a moment so she can straighten herself out.

"Yeah, I know," she says. "Sorry about that, I just lost track of time."

Rihoko smirks and looks at her watch. "It has been five minutes on the dot since I let you go on break. You haven't wasted any time, Dear, except for that which we're using to have this conversation."

Haruhi nods, lightly embarrassed.

She starts walking to the fourth bed in a row and stops short. It just hit her that she let the photo behind. She whirls around, and almost shrieks out loud when she sees it is no longer where she left it. Then her eyes travel up and it is in Rihoko's hand. She looks at it thoughtfully, like it's one of her patients.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Haruhi says, running back. "That's mine, I didn't mean to-"

Rihoko stops her with a hand, and never looks up from the photograph. Haruhi is frozen in mid-air, with no idea why Rihoko is so interested in the photograph that she won't just give it back. Is this some kind of policy she has about random volunteers who take too long on breaks?

She looks up suddenly, and Haruhi jumps.

"You know, it's funny," she says, a smile very slowly crawling across her aged features. "I never said anything because I wasn't sure, but I always thought there was something familiar about you."

Haruhi blinks. "What do you mean?"

Rihoko's smile becomes a grin.

"You must have made copies of this," she nods at the photo in her hand. "Because I distinctly recall the first time I saw it, back when that nice young man passed through."

"Young man?" Haruhi repeats. She's starting to feel that swelling in her chest again. "What young man? I mean… can you describe him?"

"Of course," Rihoko says like the question offends her. "I never forget a face, especially one as handsome as his. Oh, if only I were a younger girl…"

Rihoko stares off into space like she's star struck, while Haruhi is fast losing her patience.

"Anyway," Rihoko says when she's done. "He was tall and in good shape, dressed nicely for traveler. He was blond at had the bluest eyes I've ever seen. Actually, they may have been more violet, now that I think about it…"

She goes off on a tangent, muttering to herself about eye colors and how purple eyes could even be a genetic possibility, but Haruhi hasn't been listening since the word 'blond.' Now she's pretty sure all outside noise as been muted, and all she can hear is a voice in her head that is still as loud and clear as the last time she heard it. Whether he be talking or laughing or crying, she could hear it.

"Tamaki…"

Rihoko looks up.

"Was that his name? I don't think he ever told me…"

"That was his name," she says firmly. "He was… he's a good friend of mine and I'd really like to find him. When did you say he was here again?"

"About five or six years ago," Rihoko affirms. "He wandered through the way you did, funnily enough. Got lost looking for a town to stock up in. We were still getting things off the ground and didn't have much for him. In fact, the only reason I ever met him at all was because he was brought to me for treatment!"

"Treatment?" Haruhi breathes in a daze.

At this, Rihoko looks solemn and shakes her head. "Oh yes, the poor dear. There were these two hooligans hanging around at the time. They attacked him in the morning and tried to rob him. He didn't have anything, or so he told them, and they started this huge scuffle. Two against one! The nerve some people have, I swear… Well regardless, your friend was brought to me all banged up and bruised. A swollen eye here, a cut on the lip there. Took a week before he was well enough to move, and then he was gone! I wanted him to stay longer and get some more rest, but he was insistent that he'd stayed long enough and that he couldn't afford to settle down in one place for too long. Not until he found what he was looking for."

"And what was he looking for?" Haruhi asks. This whole story is throwing her emotions through the ringer. She's gone from hopeful to scared to angry to sad to confused. Trust Tamaki to mess with her mind like that, even if indirectly.

Rihoko shrugs. "He never said. All he ever did when he wasn't talking to me or sleeping was stare at a photograph. This one, in fact."

She holds the photo out to Haruhi, who doesn't move. She wait's a few second to see if Rihoko snatches it away, and when she doesn't, Haruhi tentatively takes it and holds it close to her chest.

"So that's the last time you saw him," she says to confirm. "He left when he was well again."

"Well enough, I said," Rihoko answers. She places her hands on her hips like a mother talking about her rowdy children. "I don't know what that man was looking for that was so important, he'd risk his health over it. I guess I never will."

Rihoko turns on a heel and goes to the next bed on her side of the room. Haruhi's next bed is within her line of sight, but she couldn't care less about it right now. Her legs are starting to ache from the desire to just run. In her throat building either a scream or a million different words that form a story she has to tell right now. She sends Rihoko and apologetic look that the old woman doesn't catch with her back turned, and then she's off.

"I'm sorry, Rihoko-san," she calls back to her. "I'll be back, I just need to speak to my friends for a minute. It's extremely important."

She runs out of the hall and around the corner without waiting for an answer.

**
Rihoko watches Haruhi go, bewildered and curious. Her initial impression of the young woman had been that she was quiet and reserved and rarely, if ever, got emotional about anything. Either this was a moment that fell into the 'rarely' category, or Rihoko was just completely wrong about her. Rihoko was never wrong about anyone.

She sighs and shakes her head.

"She's an oddity, that one," she thinks aloud.

From his bed across the room, where he'd been watching Haruhi go with great interest, Akira suddenly looks like he just sucked on a lemon.

"Wait, that was a woman?" he asks incredulously. "Well, just my luck…"

"Oh stop it, Kafugi. And drink your water," Rihoko snaps patronizingly.

While he mumbles childishly into his glass, Kensuke is watching Rihoko intently. It isn't a flirtatious gaze like it usually is, and that is what clues Rihoko in that this might be something she wants to ask about. She is beaten to the punch when Kensuke, always one to want the first word, speaks in his loud, droning tone for all the world to hear.

"I'm surprised, Hoko-chan." He uses that little silly little nickname he has for her even when he's upset about something. "You're a great many things, but I'd never have taken you for a liar."

Rihoko indignantly sniffs at him. "Liar? And when, exactly, have I told a lie today?"

"You may not have said a falsehood, if that's what you think, but you didn't tell that girl the whole story and you know it. An omission is still a lie, Hoko-chan."

Rihoko rolls her eyes.

"Oh, that's what you mean," she says. "Kensuke, I've told you again and again, that man was attacked first, anything he did-"

"You still should have told her," Kensuke interrupts. "I know, odds are, her friend is dead by now, but if he's still alive, and she somehow manages to find him, she has to know what she's in for. You told her all about with those two knuckleheads did to him. I didn't hear a peep out of you about what he did to them."

"Self defense, Kensuke!" Rihoko is speaking loud enough now that she wakes a few sleeping patients. "Self. Defense. They attacked first, he retaliated. He just happened to be more of a match than those boys realized."

Kensuke gives a mocking laugh that Rihoko appreciates even less than everything he said before it.

"I remember everything that happened that day, Hoko-chan, and I know you do too. Really, what's a black eye to a broken leg? Or a cut lip to five teeth being knocked out. I wouldn't care except I saw what was in that man's eyes that day. There was something wrong there. Maybe there wasn't when little miss Haruhi there knew him, but this world isn't the one young people like her and her friend came from. It's a small step above pure hell out there, and that changes people. Sometimes, not for the better."

Kensuke lays back down and rolls over to his side, closing his eyes tight. He likes to have the last word even more than he likes to have the first word. There's no point in trying to argue with him once he's decided it's over. The stubborn old goat. Rihoko narrows her eyes at his 'sleeping' form. He lets out an exaggerated snore as if to figuratively shove her off. Rihoko legs it go with another sigh and another shake of her head, and then goes back to stripping the beds in the far corner.