Chapter LI.

Time seemed to come to a standstill.

I wasn't breathing anymore.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

This man over there… in the corridor right in front of the door of my mother's hospital room… 

It's him!

'Otō-san!' I gasped, shuddering.

Even from this distance, he heard me. He paused down to look at me where I had staggered to a stop at the head of the staircase. His expression was a mixture of different emotions. Anger. Panic. Despair. And his eyes, they had that sick look.

I jumped as he said my name.

'Hime, it's you?! How could you have done this to your own father?! Why did you tell the police about what I did?! If you had not said anything-' he shouted. 'I have to speak to Kozue! She has to wake up from her coma! I can't continue to live like this! Constantly on the run from the police!'

Turning back to the door, he slid it wide open at one go, preparing to enter the room.

Instantly, my heart jumped to my throat, and breaking out of my trance-like state, I dashed at him to wound my arms around one of his to prevent him from going any further.

'No, leave her alone!' I cried, desperately. 'I won't allow you to meet her! Stay away from her!'

'Get out of my way, you piece of sh**!' he snarled, and flinging his arm, he shoved me away. I fell backward and a terrible pain overtook me as I hit my head against something from behind- the sharp end corner of the red box on the wall- on my way to the ground.

My hand shot up instantaneously to hold my head in pain, my hair becoming wet at alarming speed. And already my hand was soaking with blood; the red liquid trickling down my neck, tainting the collar of my shirt in red.

For a few seconds, I was disoriented by the stinging pain.

I heard a voice cry 'Oi!' from afar, and it was at once followed by the sound of an urgent pair of footsteps running into my direction in the corridor. 

'Oh my god! Your head is bleeding profusely!' the same voice exclaimed, in the same alarmed tone, when it reached me, and I recognized the voice to be that of the director of the hospital. I felt him press something against my wound, and opening my eyes, I saw that it was his white coat.

I stared at the man frantically, where he had gotten down on the floor in front of me. My father was not there anymore. He had entered my mother's room. I could hear his voice in there.

'My- Mother- He-' I told him, panickedly, trying to get to my feet, but he didn't allow me to. He asked the nurse who had arrived behind me to stay with me and to call the security, before he sprung to his feet to dash his way into the room.

'Kozue! Kozue! You have to wake up!' I could hear my father cry out. 'You have to tell the police that it's not me! You could tell them that it was a thief. Or even, Hime! I beg of you, you have to save me! I don't want to go to jail!'

Reaching out for the stretcher standing against the side wall, I pulled myself up to my feet, ignoring the nurse's pleas, my heart pounding in my ears.

Okā-san! 

I need to protect her!

My head was dizzy. And I almost fell to the ground, but I managed to catch myself against the wall with my free hand.

'Sir! I'm going to ask you to get away from that bed! You have no right to be here! I would advise you to surrender yourself to the police!' the director stated.

I had arrived in the doorway now. Blood had trickled its way down my back and my arm by this instant, dripping off my fingertips. I could hardly stand on my two feet, but taking support from the door-frame, I managed to walk in a few steps inside of the room. I held my breath as I stared at my father, my heart seeming to want to claw its way out of my chest in horror. 

He was standing by the side of my mother's bed, clutching at the bed-rail!

Okā-san! 

No! Get away from her!

'Kozue! Kozue! Wake up!' he begged, his eyes shifting from her face, to that of the director, and back again, in distress.

'Sir!' the director stated, trying to approach him, but the latter reacted on the spot. His expression becoming frantic, he flung around instantly to take to his heels, darting for the door, bustling the director- as well as myself- on the way.

I managed to catch myself against the table behind me, only to stare after him for a whole second as he disappeared through the doorway, a little more than shaken, before I looked at the director's face.

The latter had flung around too to stare after him in shock, and that's when his eyes fell onto me.

'My mother- how is she?' I croaked, in distress. 'Did he-'

Everything was swirling around me now, and even before I could finish my sentence, I started to fall the small distance to the ground. But the director managed to catch hold of me just in time. He got down onto one of his knees on the floor, holding me up in a sitting position.

'She's fine! Don't worry! He didn't do anything to her!' he assured me, before he addressed himself to somebody else, ordering, 'Go after that man immediately! He's wanted by the police!' 

Opening my eyes, I saw that he was speaking to the two security guards who had appeared in the doorway, and the two put themselves to execution on the spot. 

'And you,' he said to the nurse, 'stay with the patient until I come back. Call in two more security guards to assist you! I have to take her to the scanner room immediately.'

He looked down at me, and the woman nodded.

I couldn't take it anymore. I closed my eyes. The pain was too severe. But it was nothing compared to all the emotions that came crashing on me. 

Picking me up in his arms, the dark-haired man started to carry me rapidly out of the room, and I covered my face with my hands, starting to cry.

***

'Did she tell you that she wouldn't come to school today?' Gōjun Shoran asked Shunsui Shigeizumi over his shoulder, feeling a bit intrigued.

The two males were sitting at their respective desks at school, with the bell ringing, announcing the start of classes.

'No!' the reddish-brown-haired young man answered, in the same tone. 'She didn't tell me anything.'

Did she get caught up by something?

The teacher arrived, calling the class to silence. And everyone got to their feet to greet the woman. 

When several hours had ticked by and the dark-haired girl still didn't show up, Shunsui and Gōjun began to grow anxious. And when lunchtime arrived, the girl was still absent.

Just as Shunsui was getting out of his seat and had grabbed his phone with the intention to give her a phone-call, out of the blue, he received a text message. It was from the dark-haired girl.

Gōjun got up from his own desk instantly to move to the side of the reddish-brown-haired young man for them to read the message together. In the message, the girl was saying that she won't be coming to school today and that she's taking the entire day off because she's caught up by something; a familial obligation.

'She doesn't add anything else,' Gōjun noted. 'Do you think that she's caught up with the marriage of her cousin- that guy, Norinaga?! If I remember well, she told us that the wedding is for this week.'

'Yes, it must be that,' Shunsui concluded, and hanging his head, he exhaled, 'Well, well, I guess that we're eating at the canteen today!'

And on this, the two young men started for the door.

***

Hours later...

Just like on the previous day, Gōjun Shoran left for his dōjō after the end of classes, while Shunsui Shigeizumi had a rendezvous with another group of girls, the two thus parting with each other outside of the gate of the institution. 

It was completely dark when Gōjun returned home, and grabbing dinner rapidly, he moved upstairs to his room to take a shower and play a little with Yamcha, after which he started to do his homeworks.

When he came back downstairs to drink something, he was surprised to find Kenren sitting at the table in the kitchen.

'You're home already?!' Gōjun inquired. 'Didn't you go dine outside tonight?'

'I did,' the man replied, and the teenager noticed that his expression was very sombre. 

The older male had prepared himself some tea but he was not drinking it. He was staring at the cup, frowning deeply, his fingers intertwined in front of himself on the table.

Gōjun became anxious.

'Did something happen?' 

'Yes,' the older male replied, his eyes tightening at his cup of tea. 'Something happened to one of my patients this morning. Or, more precisely, her daughter. The patient that I'm telling you about, she's in a coma. She had been aggressed by her husband several months ago and the latter has been on the run ever since. Today, this man showed up at the hospital. Their daughter was present. When she tried to prevent him from meeting the woman, he pushed her violently away and she got hurt at the head. A little more, and she might have found herself in the same state as her mother! And that despicable man, he managed to escape! I couldn't stop thinking about it during the whole evening!'

Gōjun wasn't listening anymore. He wasn't breathing either. His heart was pounding in his ears. He felt his face, in fact, his whole body, grow cold.

How could I have been so stupid not to doubt anything?! 

He could think of only one person: Hime Kirigakure!

'Gōjun, is there something wrong?' Kenren asked him, worriedly, as he looked up at the teenager and caught his expression, but he didn't receive any answer. The next second, the younger male had flung around to run out of the door. 

Crossing the living room to into the hallway, Gōjun snatched up the keys of his car rapidly from onto the furniture by the side of the door, and he rushed outside for his car, ignoring Kenren's calls, completely absorbed in his own thoughts.

It can't be! 

His heart was beating so fast now that he thought it was going to explode. 

But there was no doubt to have. 

It was her! 

Kenren couldn't be referring to anyone else.

Jumping into his car, he drove for the girl's house as quickly as possible. When he finally arrived in front of the shop, he pulled over roughly on the side of the road, and rushed his way up the staircase to bang on the door of the apartment, leaving the key of the vehicle on the contact in the fluster.

An old woman answered the door and he recognized the latter as being the dark-haired girl's grand-mother.

'Where is she?!' he demanded at her, with alarm, seizing her by both her shoulders.

The woman was taken aback for a second.

'Are- Are you talking about Hime?' she asked, urgently. 'She's not home! She's gone to work!'

Gōjun's heart skipped a beat. 'In her state?'

'I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen! But you are-' 

He didn't allow her to finish her sentence. Already, he was running his way down the staircase to get onto his car again and drive off to her workplace, feeling dead worried, but also furious now at the dark-haired girl. 

***

As I bent down to pick the bucket of water up, the pain in my head began to sear. 

Closing my eyes, I held my head with my hand, wincing. 

'It hurts!'

Out of the blue, I felt somebody seize my wrist very firmly and my eyes blew wide open on the spot, my heart skipping a beat at the sight of the person who was holding himself there in front of me.

Gōjun!

'Are you completely crazy?!' he snarled at me, his expression filled with anger, but also, deep worry. 'How can you be so unconscious?! You're coming with me!'

Flinging around, he started to drag me away with him towards the elevator. I was completely speechless so much I was stunned.

What is he doing here? 

I had no doubt that he has discovered what happened.

'I'm taking her back home!' he called over his shoulder at Itagaki-san, one of my colleagues.

'Yes! Yes! Please, do!' the middle-aged woman told him, with an approving look. 'And don't let her come back until her head is no longer in a bandage!'

Gōjun slammed at the button of the elevator several times, but when it took too long to arrive, he lost his patience and started to drag me towards the staircase. I could only stare at his back as we descended the stairs, my emotions in turmoil, my head a bit dizzy. 

We were descending the last flight of stairs to arrive into the lobby when, abruptly, my head began to spin really, very much faster and I started to lose my balance.

'Gōjun...'

He looked around at me the moment he saw me start falling, and turning around on the spot, he caught me, sending both his arms around me.

Tears had welled up my eyes now. My stomach was twisting; the images of this morning, of that terrible night months ago, filling up my vision.

'Oi, Princess!' he said, his tone alarmed, and he picked me up in his arms to carry me downstairs. 

I couldn't contain my tears anymore. Gripping his T-shirt with both my hands, I started to cry uncontrollably in his chest.

'Gōjun, he was here!' 

'I know,' he told me, his voice catching, his hold tightening on me, and even if I was not looking at him, I could feel his concerned eyes on me. 

He continued to walk and when I felt the wind on my skin, I knew that we were outside of the building. 

'Kenren?!' he uttered, abruptly, bursting to a stop, and I opened my eyes to look at the man he was addressing himself to. 

My breath caught.

It was the director of the hospital! 

His name is Kenren? 

Kenren Shoran is the name of Gōjun's father! 

Does this mean that-

'What are you doing here?' Gōjun asked him, astonished and confused.

'I was so worried that I decided to follow you! You left the house so abruptly and that without saying anything! And you weren't even answering my phone-calls!' the man replied, his expression troubled. 'But I didn't know that you're acquainted to her. I know that she's a student of Shigeizumi High School too, but I had no idea that you know her personally!'

There was no doubt now. That man was, indeed, Gōjun's father!

Just at that moment, I heard a familiar female voice call out my name, and I looked on my left at the woman who was running into our direction.

Katsura-san!

'Gōjun, what's wrong with her?' she called, anxiously, before she jerked to a stop when her eyes fell onto the dark-haired male who was holding himself there, a few feet away from us.

'Kenren?!' she exclaimed at him, her expression astounded.

'Katsura?!' the man exclaimed back, in the same tone, and Gōjun and I looked at the two of them again, completely stunned.

'You know each other?!' Gōjun asked them.

'Yes, Katsura is the person that I told you about yesterday,' the dark-haired male answered. 'The one from high school.'

From high school?! Can it be that... he's the person whom Katsura-san is in love with?!

'But what are you doing here?' the man asked her, his expression confused. 'How do you know my son and Hime Kirigakure?'

'Hime is my friend. We were supposed to meet with each other tomorrow. When she canceled, I decided to come to visit her at her workplace in surprise!' she answered, before she blinked in puzzlement, and asked, 'But did you just say, "your son"?!' She gave Gōjun a surprised look. 'Your family name is Shoran? I should have made the link between the two of you when Kenren had told me that his son's name is Gōjun and that he has your age!'

Looking at me then, she asked him, in dead worry, 'But what is wrong with Hime? Why is her head in a bandage?!'

By this moment, I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. My head was throbbing terribly and even with my eyes closed, I still felt very much dizzy.

When I heard Shunsui's voice, I managed to open my eyes for a brief instant to see the reddish-brown-haired young man running towards us, his expression utterly worried and panicked.

'Gōjun, I came as fast as I could!' he exclaimed. 'What happened to her?' 

'I'll tell you on the way,' Gōjun answered, urgently, as he got moving. 'Kenren, can we take her to our house?'

That was the last thing that I heard. 

After that, I fainted.

***

Gōjun Shoran knocked once on the door before entering the older male's office.

'Gōjun...' the latter said, turning to face him, from where he was standing behind his desk.

Crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the door-frame, the teenager declared, with a small smile tugging at his lips, 'So, it's Katsura Hiō, eh? I like her. She's a bit strange, but I like her.'

Kenren's eyes widened at him in surprise, before a small smile came to his lips too.

'But say, can I ask you a question?'

'Yes, please do!'

'When you proposed her for marriage and she rejected you, why did you let her go?'

The man's eyes grew even wider at him, completely surprised now.

'And so, you know what happened?!'

'Yes. She talked about it with the Princess, and the latter told me everything.'

The Princess, huh? Hime Kirigakure...

The man knew that by refusing to call her by her name, it was Gōjun's way of showing that he refuses to acknowledge the girl. However, what Kenren found interesting was that he had never seen the teenager behaving so familiarly with someone before, except with Shunsui.

He pondered over Gōjun's question for a minute, even if, he already knew the answer. Lowering his eyes, he murmured, almost to himself, 'You see, the fact was that there was no way that I could have convinced her that I love her.'

'And today, what do you intend to do?'

'I won't let her go!' the man asserted, with confidence, looking at the teenager in the eyes.

The latter smiled again, and uncrossing his arms, he left, his expression satisfied.

Thank you for reading!

Glossary

Otō-san - father