Kiri To Shinkirō / Mist And Mirage

Children's services came to speak with Hikaru in the middle of morning classes. She went white, and asked anxiously, "What happened?"

The administrative assistant who'd come to fetch her could only say she didn't know.

When Hikaru entered the room where the agents waited, she demanded, "What happened to my mother?"

The two children's services agents looked at her and each other blankly. Finally one asked, "Why do you think we're here about your mother, we haven't spoken with your mother yet?"

Hikaru gave them a blank look in return and said uncertainly, "My brother, he said that when my father died, children's services came to his school."

The agents apologized and assured her that as far as they knew, her mother was fine.

"You can't think of any other reason for our visit?" one of them asked.

Hikaru shook her head. Then paused and asked, "Because my mother's husband hit me once? Maybe? But I can't imagine you coming here just for that."

The agent who'd asked gave her a considering look.

The other agent snapped, "Takeshi Kiri has been arrested and is being held for having s.e.x.u.a.l relations with you. We're here to talk to you about it."

Hikaru stared open mouthed for a moment, and then she got angry. There was only one person who kept accusing her of having s.e.x with Kiri. She ignored the agents, pulled out her phone and dialed her mother.

"Hello?" Miri answered.

"I'm moving out!" Hikaru snapped.

"Hikaru, I'm on my way to the hospital right now, what's going on?" Miri asked.

Hikaru paled again and asked, "To the hospital, why?"

"It's just a checkup, what's going on?" her mother demanded.

"Your husband has had Kiri arrested," Hikaru replied icily. "I'm moving out, if I don't, I'll kill him eventually."

"Hikaru!" Miri protested.

"I'll probably need you to sign some paperwork later, right now I'm going to leave school and see what needs to be done to get Kiri cleared," she said, and ended the call.

"You can't do that," said the first agent.

The other nodded in agreement.

"Like hell I can't," Hikaru snapped.

"We need to talk to you about how he persuaded you to have s.e.x with him, or if it was unwillingly, because **** has different penalties," the second agent explained as though speaking to a very slow person.

The first agent gave her partner an exasperated look and said, "It's our job to find out what happened to you and protect you from future abuse."

Hikaru stared at them incredulously. "We haven't had s.e.x yet," she replied angrily.

The agents looked at each other again. Then the first one said, "Lying to protect your lover will only hurt both of you in the long run."

Hikaru glared at them briefly, then ignored them as they tried to coax her into cooperating. She thought furiously for a few moments, then suddenly stood and left the room.

She went to the nurse's office. The agents had been slow to follow and lost her in the halls. Agitated, Hikaru explained to the nurse that she needed proof that she was still a v.i.r.g.i.n.

The school nurse said helplessly, "There's no way I can help with that, you'd need a full.. um, feminine exam."

Hikaru did a quick search on her phone and called the clinic she usually attended. "I need an emergency appointment," she said into the phone, "not a medical emergency, but a paperwork emergency, to deal with s.e.x.u.a.l assault charges." The office agreed to see her right away and Hikaru left the room.

She visited the restroom and changed into the light pair of pants she kept at school for emergencies. She'd considered putting on the stage clothes she'd brought instead, but had left them for later.

The agents were waiting at the gate though. "You can't leave like this," the agents protested.

Hikaru wished the guard would have told them not to loiter. "Watch me," Hikaru snapped. "It's not like you don't know where I'm headed, after I visit the clinic for the necessary doc.u.mentation, I'll be heading to the police station."

"You don't even know which station," pointed out the first agent.

"I'm sure it's the one my mother's husband is at," Hikaru replied bitterly.

As she wasn't wrong, neither agent denied it. The second one tried to grab her arm as she exited the school grounds, but the first one stopped her partner thoughtfully.

--

Hikaru went straight to the clinic, and submitted to the unpleasant but apparently necessary examination.

The doctor performing the examination said "I don't see anything but the clean surgical incision from your implant."

Hikaru nodded and told the doctor, "We haven't had s.e.x yet, but my mother's new husband keeps insisting I'm lying, and had my boyfriend arrested." She added, "This is so humiliating."

When the doctor looked at her apologetically she said, "Not the exam, but having to have the exam to prove it."

--

She checked in with the front desk, then walked up to Izumi's desk and slapped a copy of the report onto it. "You really are a f.u.c.k.i.n.g bastard," she said almost calmly. "You should just drop the charges now." she advised firmly.

Izumi stared at her and then rather smugly said, "I can't, I didn't file any charges. I just reported what I know to children's services."

Hikaru looked at him coldly and said, "You don't know anything, because you never listen to a thing I tell you." She pointed to the report and said, "That's proof that I was still a v.i.r.g.i.n at 10:45 this morning. Not that it should matter."

Izumi stared at the report uncertainly. Then he snapped, "I don't know how you got a doctor to support your claim, but you're lying!"

Hikaru lost her temper and yelled, "You have never even asked if I were still a v.i.r.g.i.n or how many guys I've dated. I've never lied to you even once! I have bent over backward to accommodate you, to make you comfortable in my home, and I'm done! I'm so f.u.c.k.i.n.g through with you and your stupid ideas! I'm moving out, because if I try to live with you for another day, I think I may try to beat the crap out of you!"

Izumi glared at her. "Why aren't you in your school uniform? Where were you?" he demanded after a moment.

A couple of people walked up to the next desk over, but Hikaru just looked at Izumi as though he'd lost his mind. "Because I'm not an idiot," she practically growled at him, "and I didn't want to waste time being asked why I'm not in school! It's none of your business what I do or don't do!"

Izumi replied angrily, "It is my business to keep you safe, and you're going to get pregnant carrying on like this!"

Hikaru snapped, "Unlike you I'm not a moron who doesn't understand how to use birth control when the time comes." Hikaru added more quietly, and more viciously, "And keep your creepy dirty mind off of my s.e.x life. It's none of your damn business."

Izumi stared at her open mouthed.

And during the pause a tiny woman who'd come up beside Hikaru said, "I'm Takeshi-san's lawyer, causing a scene at the station won't help him."

Hikaru stared at her and asked, "You're a lawyer?" But before the woman could reply, Hikaru blushed and apologized, "I'm so sorry, I should know better than to question based on appearances."

The lawyer waved her apology away and said wryly, "I'm used to it."

Hikaru handed her the copy of the doctor's report and asked, "Will this help?"

The lawyer flipped through it and nodded. "Yes, very much, though it may not clear everything."

Hikaru grimaced and asked, "What would clear everything?"

The two children's services agents arrived then, and Hikaru immediately handed them the other copy she carried. She was so angry with Izumi, but she also understood that these were people who had the power to get Kiri out of trouble. She hoped that she hadn't ruined anything by ditching them at the school.

The lawyer said consideringly, "Permission from your parents would help. But I understand the charges were initiated by your father."

Hikaru glared at Izumi and said stiffly, "He's not my father, he's my mother's new husband, they've only been married for four months. I already have my mother's approval. If she writes it out will it suffice?"

The first agent having flipped through the report looked up at this last and said, "What do you mean you have your mother's approval?"

Hikaru blushed and replied, "I already spoke with her about intending to, um, to have s.e.x with Kiri soon."

The lawyer said firmly, "It would be better for him if you don't until you're 18, or if you at least have a legal contract in place first."

Hikaru stared at her and asked, "There are legal contracts for that?"

The lawyer laughed and replied, "Of course. The most common is marriage. There are also some prenuptial agreements."

"I thought those just said how things get divided if you get divorced?"

The lawyer replied, "Typically, but they can also be written up as trial marriages, basically."

"Could you write one up like that for us?" Hikaru asked with surprise.

"Hey," protested the second children's services agent and Izumi in unison.

The lawyer nodded to Hikaru and replied seriously, "Yes, but I'm not certain it would fall under approved company time expenditure."

Hikaru thought for a moment and asked, "You just mean I might have to pay for it?"

The lawyer nodded.

Hikaru said resolutely, "Please do then."

Kiri's lawyer smiled at her, agreed, and withdrew.

Izumi recovered from his shock and exclaimed, "You can't do that, it's ridiculous!"

"Not that I completely disagree, but I don't think you have any right to protest Izumi-san," said Hikaru's uncle Kaoru from where he sat on the edge of the next desk over.

"Kao-ji-chan!" Hikaru was startled to see him.

"You don't have any idea what kind of guy she's dating! He's 27 and she's just a child!" Izumi declared angrily.

"Takeshi Kiri," Kaoru replied calmly, "I've met him, and I've been listening for a little while, and I think Hikaru is right, her s.e.x life is none of your business."

The second agent piped up, "Even if you haven't had i.n.t.e.r.c.o.u.r.s.e yet, it doesn't mean he hasn't done anything s.e.x.u.a.l to you. Or seen you n.a.k.e.d."

Hikaru stared at the agent scornfully, "He's my boyfriend, of course we've done s.e.x.u.a.l things, we've kissed hundreds of times. And I made sure he saw me n.a.k.e.d, there's no way I can build a long term relationship with a man who can't handle my scars."

"What scars?" demanded Izumi.

Kaoru stared at him in disbelief. "You've been living with my niece for four months and don't know what scars? That sure says a lot about which guy she trusts." He stood and hugged Hikaru.

"Why are you here? Hikaru asked him.

"Your mother called, in tears." He frowned at her. "She said you declared you are moving out and that you'd decided to skip school to try and get Takeshi-san released from whatever Izumi-san had done," Kaoru explained.

She nodded.

"You can't just move out, you're under age, you have to have a guardian," pointed out the first agent.

"I can," Hikaru replied. "Either by having my mother sign on an apartment with me, or by staying with my uncle, I don't have to stay in the same house."

Kaoru gazed at her in surprise, but didn't refute her assumption directly. "Well, we'll have to have a family meeting," he said calmly. He wondered how long she'd been thinking about how to move out.

"Hikaru?" Kiri said from behind them. He stood next to the small lawyer, looking completely exhausted.

Hikaru ran to him. Kiri caught her.

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

"Hikaru," Kiri said.

"I didn't think about protecting you at all," she continued.

"Hikaru," Kiri repeated.

"I didn't find out until this morning," she explained.

"Hikaru," Kiri asked a little exasperatedly, "do you trust me?"

Hikaru nodded.

"Then believe me when I say this is not your fault. I know exactly who's fault this is," he told her, hugging her tightly.

Hikaru protested, "But I never even considered."

Kiri said quietly, "Hikaru I love you like crazy, but if you have a fault, I think it's taking too much responsibility for things."

Hikaru stared at him doubtfully.

"It's not your responsibility to protect me, if anything, it's mine to protect you because I am older," he said hugging her against him again.

He saw that she was going to protest, and he added, "Me being older is simple fact Hikaru."

She nodded reluctantly.

"And we both know who caused this," he said firmly.

Hikaru sighed. "You look exhausted?" she asked worriedly.

Kiri said, "I'm so freaking tired." He laid his head against her shoulder and leaned on her a little. "The police informed the people sharing holding space with me that I was a pedophile, and then made sure to check on us frequently, and made plenty of noise doing it. I haven't really slept since about 4am yesterday, between the travel and everything."

Hikaru hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry," she said.

Kiri laughed and gave her a wry look. "Not your fault," he repeated.

Hikaru asked Kiri, "Even though you're so tired, will you come to my family meeting?"

"Yes, of course," he replied. Though he looked at his lawyer and then asked, "When?"

Hikaru looked at her uncle.

"Tonight?" Kaoru asked.

Hikaru said, "We're doing the opening at Yukito-san's place tonight, we play until 9pm. Is that too late?"

Kaoru shook his head. "9:30 then," he said. "These folks," he indicated the children's services people with a wave, "agree to let the rest of the charges drop, contingent on your mother verifying our words," he added.

Hikaru sighed again and said, "Thank you." After a moment she added, "I better go back and do my afternoon classes."

Kiri and Kaoru nodded in unison.

Hikaru asked the lawyer, "Do you think you could have it written up by tonight?"

The lawyer nodded, "A basic version at least, I'll send it with Takeshi-san, we have a bit more paperwork here too."

Kiri looked at Hikaru curiously, but she didn't enlighten him. Instead she kissed him and said, "Tonight then? You and Kao-ji-chan decide where?"

Kiri nodded. After glancing at her uncle for confirmation, Hikaru went back to school.

During the break, she gave a short, quickly whispered explanation of her absence to Risa and Shizuoka. They were as incredulous as Hikaru felt. She had no idea how things had gotten so crazy.