Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Death Do Us Part ❯ Ricochet ( Chapter 6 )

This one's for you, Ninja Teacher Jen.

Disclaimer: This is an entirely original story. All of it is fictional, aside from certain places.

Hallelujah
is by Rufus Wainwright
(Shrek OST, great song, please listen to it! XD)

 

Quick download (recommended while you read):

http://download.yousendit.com/2F413BA9407BA07E

 

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I heard there was a secret chord,
That David played and it pleased the Lord

 

 

Silence.

 

She sat on the couch in her parents' living room, staring at the curtained window. The warm afternoon sunlight made its way through the translucent floral material and illuminated the woman sitting there alone. There was no-one else in the house, it was silent. Only her steady breathing could be heard.

 

Had you been able to read minds, the entire house would be filled with piercing screams, hysterical voices, yelling. They were all the thoughts rushing around inside the lone woman's head. Not memories; her own voices, talking to herself. They all said the same things.

 

Dirty.

 

Cheating.

 

Selfish.

 

Traitor.

 

She hadn't had the chance to talk to Satoru that night. She had been too shocked to shove her date off of her, and her husband had walked away. The expression on his face was blank, a clean canvas ready to be painted with emotion. She didn't know what he was thinking. She didn't know what he would do.

 

 

But you don't really care for music,
Do you?

 

 

She didn't know if he was even still alive.

 

True, though, that he hadn't killed himself after she had left him. Her heart warmed with relief and pride, her mind raced with curiosity. But now that he had seen her with another man? Would he kill himself now? She felt repulsive for thinking so highly of herself. She was caught in a game, playing with his life.

 

Are you still alive?

 

She wasn't sure how long it had been, the days had melted together to form one big chunk of time. The block of life that she wasted sitting there, in her parents' house, thinking about her husband, wishing he was by her side again. But she left him. She had betrayed him, caused that vacant expression to drift into his beautiful eyes. She was a monster.

 

She shoved him away and wiped the saliva he had plastered all over her mouth with the back of her hand, still looking out the window onto the street.

 

“Rei?” Zack's eyes were bright with confusion. ”I'm so sorry, I lost control of myself.” He pulled his hands to himself, releasing her from his heated grip, already missing the supple softness of her skin. She was just too hard to resist. He looked at her, her eyes wide, looking out the window. “What is it? Are you alright?”

 

No answer. Her eyes glazed over, hiding the tumult of emotions tearing inside.

”Rei,” He reached over to her and shook her lightly by the shoulders. Her head slowly turned to regard him, her eyes suddenly empty. ”Who was that?” Ah. So he had noticed. She found her voice.

 

“Akaba Satoru.”

”Akaba?” Her surname, he recognized. Why hadn't he noticed before? That she didn't have the same name as her parents. He had expected what came next.

”He's my husband.”

Silence. Zack sat back in his seat to take in what she had said. He had a hard time accepting it, he really liked this woman. She can't be taken!

”Why? Why isn't he with you? Why did you come out with me? Do you cheat on him often?!” She hung her head low. Cheat. Another word to add to her list.

”I've never cheated on him...I hadn't ever planned to.”

”Then, why?” He wanted answers. He wasn't the most honorable of men, but he refused to let her go. This woman had sparked so many things inside him; he would die if he didn't hear her voice again.

 

“We had a fight...I left him.” He was almost relieved. “I'm sorry; I just thought spending time with another man would help somehow.”

 

“He was your first love, wasn't he?” He had surprised her,

 

“How did you know?”

 

“I can just tell, you've never been with another man before, right?” He leaned forward, his mind racing, willing to cross the boundaries of matrimony to have this woman. She leaned back, as if retreating.

 

“I haven't been with anyone else...” The many meanings of the conversation hung between them. The predatory gaze from across the table shook her into logical thought. “I'm sorry, I love him.”

”Please,”

”I can't do this.”

 

“What did he do to you?” His voice was a low whisper, as if he was asking himself.

 

“It's nothing—“

 

“Why didn't your parents stop you?” They hadn't exactly encouraged anything...had they? Do they really want to see her with another man? No, they want to see her happy.

”I'm sorry,” Her voice was edged with finality. “Please take me home.”

 

She felt like killing herself.

It goes like this; the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift,
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

 

 

A light buzzing in her pocket snapped her from her thoughts, and she pulled the vibrating mobile phone out. Caller unknown, she didn't know if she was disappointed or relieved, it wasn't Zack. He had been calling her every day, even after she had told him she was married. She saved some understanding for the man's actions, he had sounded genuinely worried as to why she was apart from her beloved, and exactly why her parents hadn't mentioned it. The phone was still buzzing. She hesitated before she answered, trying to regain control of her voice,

 

“Hello?”

 

“Akaba Rei-san?” The voice was that of a woman, very official sounding and polite. The kind of women that work at...the hospital. Her heart kicked into full throttle, her breathing became shallow. Fear. It tingled in her insides and spread, its icy hands gripped at anything they could get a hold of. Satoru.

 

“Yes?” Tears prickled the corners of her eyes. Calm down.

 

 

Hallelujah,

 

“I am calling from the Saiko Hospital Emergency Room; do you know a woman called Akaba Michiko-san? Is she your mother?”

 

“No, well, yes. She is my husband's mother,” Relief. It melted the ice that had gripped her by the throat, gripped her heart. But still, there was something wrong with the woman she considered a mother, “Is everything alright? What's wrong?!”

 

“Please ma'am, don't panic. Akaba-san has had a heart attack,” The lady paused, as all hospital workers do when they shouldn't, in the middle of explaining a dire situation, as if building the suspense. “We have stabilized her condition, but we need to keep her in the hospital for monitoring--”

 

 

Hallelujah

 

“I'll be right there.” Rei hung up; the call had snapped her into reality. She was worried for her mother-in-law, worried for Satoru. His mother was one of the few relatives he had left. And he has me to make his life harder on top of this. She was out the door within minutes, swallowing the lump that had festered in her throat.

 

 

*

 

 

 

The familiar smells, sights and sounds of the hospital filled her senses. Her feminine shoes tapped on the polished tiles as she walked to the front counter. Nurses peddled by with trolleys, patients waddled by with their drips, and children walked hand-in-hand with their parents, off to visit grandma.

 

“How can I help you?” The lady behind the counter was old, a woman Rei recognized from other times she had been to this hospital.

 

 

Your faith was strong but you needed proof,
You saw her bathing on the roof,
Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you

 

 

“I'm looking for a room, it should be under Akaba,” She leaned against the cold bench, tapping what was left of her bitten nails against the hard surface.

 

“270, East Wing,” The lady peered up from the top of her glasses, “you are family, correct?”

 

“Yes, thank you.”

She power walked through the halls, taking passing glances at the rooms with elderly lying in their beds, then the rooms with empty beds. She wondered how long it had been since someone had slept in them, and if they had gotten better. Then she thought about those that hadn't gotten better. And then, about their grief-stricken families. Rei was thankful that her mother-in-law was going to be ok.

 

She reached the door. Black numbers were engraved into a metal plate on the pale door, 270. She knocked. No answer. Her heart was still beating faster than usual, her body warm with the rush of blood. The doorknob was cold to the touch as she softly turned it, determined not to make any noise that would disturb the ill woman inside. She peered into the softly lit room, only seeing the translucent white curtains that let the natural light in. There weren't any flowers on the window sill, and as she stepped further into the room, the foot of the bed came into view. Then the bulge of feet underneath the wooly sheets, then the armrest of a chair beside the bed.

 

She tied you to a kitchen chair,
She broke your throne,
She cut your hair,
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Then piercing sapphire eyes, looking directly at her from the chair. Her heart stopped.

 

He was hunched over forward, his face resting on his laced fingers in front of him and his elbows supported by his knees. The light coming from the window at his back darkened his figure, highlighting his presence in the bare room. Satoru's mother lay sleeping on the single bed, and there was a small round table between his chair and the window.

 

Hallelujah,
Hallelujah

 

 

“Sato?” He followed her with his eyes as she crossed the room, but made no form of reply. His mouth was covered with his hands in front of his face. She stood near him for a moment, waiting for him to say something. “I--”

“Forget it.” He pulled his hands away a little so his voice wasn't muffled. He took his eyes off her and stared at the wall across the room, the same blank expression on his face was in his voice. “Forget it happened.”

 

“I'm so sorry, baby--”

 

“Don't call me that.”

 

She flinched, at his voice, at his words. He sounded like her father. She felt like dirt, like an ant. He wasn't even looking at her. “Satoru...I'm sorry.”

No answer.

Maybe I have been here before,
I know this room; I have walked this floor,
I used to live alone before I knew you

 

 

“I feel so bad about what I did...but you didn't give me a chance to explain,” She felt like she was talking to a brick wall. He still wasn't looking at her, his eyes were empty. “He, Zack, he means nothing.” Her voice was getting weaker, her resolve thinning. “Absolutely nothing...” He remained silent, no change in his posture or expression. “Are you listening?!” The woman in the bed stirred and Satoru glared at the wall for the disturbance to his mother.

 

Rei shut her mouth and let out a defeated sigh, she felt hot. Too hot. Her collar was irritating her suddenly sensitive flesh, rubbing against it like a cheese grater. The walls of the small room were closing in on her, and he wouldn't even look at her.

 

I've seen your flag on the marble arch,

Love is not a victory march,

It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

 

Look at me...

 

Look at me!

 

She chocked on a sob and saw him tense slightly, it was very small, but it was something. She balled her hands into fists at her sides and pulled a chair out to sit at the table behind him. She ran her hands over the smooth surface, calming her nerves.

“I'm glad she's going to be ok,” Akaba Michiko lay peacefully, still beautiful in her old age. The lines on her face were prominent, under her eyes mostly. It was the face of a woman who carried a heavy burden. She had lost her husband to himself. Rei considered herself lucky, her Akaba was still alive. Or was Michiko the lucky one? “We haven't visited her in a while.”

 

 

Hallelujah
Hallelujah

 

 

Satoru stayed silent.

“I never wanted to hurt you...” His eyes slowly drifted shut at her words. He was listening. “I don't want you to kill yourself, `Toru.” She traced his profile with her gaze. She noticed the differences in him. His jaw was tight, his brow was set firm into a stern frown. He reminded her so much of her gruff father now, no longer sporting the boy-like features he had held onto for so long. “Nothing happened with Zack--”

 

“I told you to forget that.”

 

He had cut her off again.

There was a time you let me know what's really going on below,
But now you never show it to me, do you?

 

 

They sat in silence again. There was a knock at the door; a nurse came in to run the routine check-up. The middle-aged woman eyed the couple curiously as she checked off her list. She concentrated on Rei for a moment, and noticed her upset state.

 

“Don't worry, honey, she'll be alright.” She said, referring to the woman in the hospital bed. Rei gave her a grateful smile. It died as soon as the nurse left, closing the door behind her. His strong voice snapped her from her daze.

 

“Rei,”

 

And remember when I moved in you;
The holy dark was moving too,
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

He turned his head to the side. He finally looked at her. In that small instant his eyes exploded with emotion, and then, like a black hole in space, they were deep and vacant again, as if the feelings had been sucked into oblivion. His gaze went back to the wall.

 

No,

 

Look at me. Please.

 

“Why won't you look at me?” The tears finally came. “Do you hate me that much?”

 

 

Hallelujah,
Hallelujah

“I don't hate you.” But you aren't looking at me.

 

“Satoru,” She moved to stand, drawing her chair back.

 

“Don't.”

 

She froze, sniffing. She took a tissue from a small box on the table and held it to her lips, scrunched up in her hand.

 

“Please, Satoru, listen to me...”

 

“Shut up.”

 

 

Maybe there's a God above,
and all I ever learned from love
was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you

 

 

He was beating her down, like a bully to a child. Is this how he feels all the time? Helpless? Like a child throwing a tantrum? She sniffed again and stood, surprised by his abrupt action following hers. He was looking at his mother, standing, but his body language told her he was paying attention to her. She reached out a hand damp with light tears and recoiled when he shrugged her off. It hurt so much. The pain didn't spread; it wasn't a big lump in her chest. It was sharp, and with amazing clarity, it stabbed her in the heart, severing the organ from her body.

 

And it's not a cry you can hear at night,

It's not somebody who's seen the light,

It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

 

 

He turned to her and pierced her eyes with his. There was nothing in them, still those infuriatingly blank pools of rich blue. His voice left him like a stranger's, his lips moved as if they weren't the one's she had kissed so many times.

 

He turned to leave and slapped the divorce papers on the surface of the table in front of her as he brushed past and said, before slamming the door in her face;

Hallelujah,
Hallelujah

 

 

“I don't need you.”

 

Hallelujah,
Hallelu--jah

 

 

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A/N: ...More coming soon. =p