Iteration
folder
Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male › Naruto/Sasuke
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
119
Views:
2,741
Reviews:
1203
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male › Naruto/Sasuke
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
119
Views:
2,741
Reviews:
1203
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
This story has some of Masashi Kishimoto's characters from Naruto in a universe of my own devising. I do not own Naruto. I do not make any money from these writings.
Friend
‘Iteration’ is part of the space saga that began with ‘In the cold of space you find the heat of suns’ and continues in ‘Tales in Tarrasade’. There is also a one-shot ‘Silver Leaf Tales: Tying the knot’.
Thanks to Small Fox for being my beta. For this story he has also been my muse, suggesting a number of the ideas that have evolved to create this arc.
Thank you to those readers who have written a review and particular thanks to unneeded, YamanashiOchinashiIminashi, richon, satterb, TanuKyle, disembodiedvoiceofthedying, lonelylulaby, Dorkchic, telynaayuri, Aflyingmonkey123, Prism0467, sadie237, angelj232000 and cynaga who reviewed chapter 99.
I really enjoy hearing from readers. It is very motivating and helps me keep writing.
Apologies if the characters have grown differently in their new environment.
This is posted in the Naruto/Sasuke section because it is part of a Naru/Sasu/Naru space saga. However, it does feature many other pairings (and a few threesomes). Apologies to those hoping for Sasuke/Naruto or Naruto/Sasuke action in every chapter.
Chapter one hundred: Friend
Haru hated Sumiko.
He did not want to hate her. He tried to stop the feeling but it kept bubbling up from somewhere deep inside.
It was worst when Shi-chan was with her. Haru would watch Sumiko manipulating Shi-chan, like he was a puppet on invisible strings. Whenever Shi-chan’s attention wandered she would reclaim it. Usually it was by crying or whining. Sometimes she would throw a tantrum. Once in a while she would smile and be sweet to him, but never for long.
Most of the sweet smiles and all the fetching gestures were reserved for Neji-san. Haru could see Shi-chan’s pain as Sumiko behaved perfectly for Neji and then atrociously for him.
Her cruellest trick was when she would say that she hated him because he looked like her Pa but wasn’t her Pa. Haru would watch Shi-chan’s face. He wanted to run to him, crawl into his lap and tell him that he loved him.
But he couldn’t because Sumiko reserved her worst tantrums for when Haru came close. Kiba had spoken to Papa and Papa had made him promise to stay away when Shi-chan was with Sumiko.
Haru had tried telling Papa that it was all an act but Papa had scolded him. He had asked him how he would feel if To-chan had died rather than being in the tank getting better. He had accused him of being selfish.
Even Kiba-san was taken in. Haru could not remember much about being three but he knew he had been able to run rings around Kiba-san when he had put his mind to it. Sumiko was doing the same but no one saw it.
Only Ran agreed with him. Even Kazuki thought he was being mean.
Ran knew that Haru was unhappy. He could feel it.
Haru had his reasons. His To-chan was still in the tank. His Papa was cross with him. Kiba-san was scary. Shika-san was busy with Sumiko.
Sumiko was horrid.
It did not help that Haru thought about things again and again. That meant he got hurt again and again.
Ran wasn’t unhappy. He had his room. He was warm and comfortable. The food was tasty. No one hunted him. People were nice to him. He had friends.
Ir-chan loved him. Ran still had not decided if that was because Ir-chan was his parent or because Ir-chan loved everyone.
Ir-chan wasn’t in a tank. He was stuck on a stand but Ran could visit him and talk to him. Kashi-san was looking after him.
Ran now knew that Kashi-san loved Ir-chan a lot; maybe as much as Ir-chan loved Kashi-san. Ran liked that. It made him feel safe.
This morning he had woken later than usual. He had been tired. Being out in the ducts and voids during the night was tiring.
Haru and his brothers had promised not to go into the void; Ran had not. Adding extra pieces to Haru’s network was one way he could cheer Haru up. Ran had even learned how to make the connections. Shino-san had helped him.
Of course Shino-san didn’t know that Ran was helping Haru. He thought Ran was interested in flyers.
Ran showered, dressed and crept out into the shared area. Ir-chan’s room was open so he went in to say he was awake before going through to kitchen to get breakfast.
Choza-san was pleased to see him, as always. It was nice.
Breakfast was tasty. Afterwards Ran went back to his room, cleaned his teeth and tidied his room. Then he went to tell Ir-chan that he was going to the playroom.
He could hear Sumiko as he entered. Ran almost went back to his room but Sumiko screaming meant Shika-san was there. Haru would be upset.
If Ran were Shika-san he would dump Sumiko in the playroom early, pick her up late and not see her in between. Instead Shika-san visited in the mornings and the afternoons.
He had asked Biwako-san if there was a word for someone who did things that hurt them. Biwako-san had been worried but she had answered his question.
Ran wondered if Shika-san was a ma-so-chist.
Haru was huddled in a corner. Ran could feel his misery.
“I put the link in,” Ran told him, hoping to cheer him up, “with the booster.” Ran was not sure what the booster did.
“Thanks Ran,” Haru said but he didn’t smile. Even though his head was bowed, his gaze was fixed on the door to the day nursery.
“Hate you!” Sumiko was yelling. “Not Pa. Want Pa.”
Ran saw Haru shudder.
Kiba-san was walking towards the day nursery. Ran knew what came next. Kiba-san would go in and Shika-san would come out looking beaten. Shika-san would leave. Kiba-san would end up walking around the playroom with Sumiko.
Sumiko would stop crying and smile at Kiba-san. She would hug him and Kiba-san would be pleased.
Then Haru would start hating. Ran did not blame Haru but he did not like it.
He needed to do something.
Haru was trying to ignore Sumiko’s victory by burying himself in his tablet.
He had given up on his array for now. Whatever he tried, it would not behave. It was always busy doing stuff Haru did not think he had asked it to do.
Perhaps that was why Shi-chan had stopped using it.
Instead he had returned to hacking. He had thought about his promise to Papa. He had promised not to break Shi-chan’s filters, the ones he had set up to keep Haru from the data streams. He had not promised to stay out of the local computers, processors, networks and systems.
The easiest system to hack was Rin-san’s. Rin-san wanted to use the medical systems at all times so there was a wireless connection. Using the new booster he could access it from the playroom.
Rin-san’s security systems were easy to break; Haru was surprised that Shi-chan had not pointed that out to her.
He started investigating the medicos’ files. There was lots of interesting stuff: manuals for the machines, training programmes and masses of data.
He decided to check if he and Sumiko were really related. Perhaps it was a mistake and she wasn’t Shi-chan’s sister.
His heart sank. It was true. They shared ten chromosomes. Sumiko was his genetic aunt.
Having started looking at genomes he was hooked. He investigated how alike and how different the kits were. He compared his genome to Hoshi’s and Hikaru’s.
Next he looked at the triplets’ genomes.
He had already guessed that there was something weird about Tsuneo. Tsuneo was purebred but he looked like To-chan and the kits. Soon Haru was deep into the complexity of making human chromosomes from hybrids. Kotohime was very clever. Haru was impressed.
Then he turned his attention to Teruko and Takara and discovered that they were To-chan and Papa combined.
Haru deactivated the tablet and thrust it into his satchel. His heart was thumping and his gut twisted.
He didn’t want to know that. He wished he had a way of forgetting it. He wished he could stop the thought that had crept into his mind.
Would he and Hikaru exist if Papa and To-chan had known about Kotohime’s technique?
The kits would, because the bad men had made them. Ryuu would, because To-chan and Papa had chosen to adopt him. Hoshi would, because Haru had found out she was a clone of Mikoto Uchiha, Papa’s mother.
Tsuneo would exist, because Papa and To-chan had chosen to make him once they had To-chan’s humanised chromosomes. Teruko and Takara would exist because they were Papa and To-chan’s proper children with twenty-three chromosomes from Papa and twenty-three chromosomes from To-chan.
Only he and Hikaru had been compromises; the best Papa and To-chan could do at the time.
Hikaru was the best full-blood Uchiha male the optimising programme could come up with.
Haru was not sure why Haru existed.
Did he want to know? Why had Papa and To-chan asked Shi-chan to be his genetic parent? Was it because Shi-chan was so clever? Did Papa want another typed-genius for Uchiha? If he wasn’t a typed genius would Papa think he was a failure?
Haru wasn’t even sure if he liked being clever, never mind being a typed-genius. When you were the cleverest it was your fault when things went wrong. That was true for Shi-chan and it was true for him.
Ran was watching him. His eyes were soft with concern.
“I’m fine,” Haru lied.
Ran did not believe him. Haru understood. Ran could see what Haru was feeling.
Sometimes he wished other people could too. Then Sumiko would not get away with things. Then Papa would not think he was selfish when he wasn’t.
“Got an idea,” Ran told him.
Haru was intrigued.
“I’ll ask if we can make flyers. With Shino-san. In the laboratory. Where Shika-san is.”
Haru shoved all thoughts about genomes into a box and shut the lid. Building flyers was a wonderful idea. If Ran asked it might happen. “Thanks, Ran,” he admitted.
“I’ll talk to Kazuki,” Ran added.
Haru watched as Ran put his plan into action. First he spoke to Kazuki. Ran checked that he wasn’t interested in building a flyer.
Then he asked Biwako-san. That was clever. Biwako-san was delighted when Ran showed interest in learning something.
Biwako-san spoke to Kiba-san. Haru saw Kiba-san studying him. He was hesitating. Then he agreed to ask Papa.
That wasn’t going to happen until the midmeal at the earliest. Papa didn’t come to the playroom much since Kiba-san’s return.
Haru missed him. Seeing Papa more had helped him miss To-chan less. Cuddles in the snug were a memory, like Papa-time in Papa’s office and Shi-chan’s stories.
Ran was pleased. The plan had gone well. Kiba-san had asked Sasuke-sama. He had said yes and then asked Shino-san. Shino-san had said they could come to the laboratory the next morning.
Now they were there and Haru was happy. Shino-san tried to answer all his questions. Every time Shika-san took his goggles off he came over and talked to Haru about what he was doing.
Ran hadn’t seen Haru smile so much for ages; not since his Papa had blamed him for Hikaru almost falling from the ladder.
So Ran resisted the urge to bolt. He tried to hide how hard it was to be in a room with three adults who weren’t Ir-chan or Kono-san. He focused on Haru’s happiness.
Neji-san was watching him. After a while he left, which was good because that meant there was only Shino-san and Shika-san.
When the morning was over Haru went to eat with the others and Ran had lunch with Ir-chan and Kashi-san.
“So you like building things like flyers,” Kashi-san began.
Ran knew he was in trouble. Ir-chan was looking at him. Ran suddenly knew where Neji-san had gone.
He decided to go for part of the truth. The truth, or half-truths, usually worked.
“Haru likes building flyers,” he replied. “Haru misses his To-chan. Kiba-san might not say yes if Haru asked.”
Kashi-san relaxed and Ir-chan smiled.
“You like Haru-chan,” Ir-chan suggested.
“Haru is my friend,” Ran answered. “Kazuki is too but he didn’t want to make a flyer.”
“It’s good that you did it for Haru,” Kashi-san agreed. “You going to be able to cope?”
Ran sank his teeth into his pie and nodded.
Haru loved being in the laboratory with Shi-chan and Shino-san. It had been decided that he and Ran would go back every day, in the morning or the afternoon, until the flyers were finished.
Haru was making sure his flyer was really complicated so he would not finish it quickly.
The third time they were there the intercom clicked and Kiba-san’s voice filled the laboratory.
“Kiba here. Shika-san, if you are available, could you come to the playroom?”
Shi-chan left and did not come back.
When the same thing happened early in their fourth session, Haru’s heart sank.
Haru was good at seeing patterns. It looked like Sumiko was too.
He checked with Hoshi after the midmeal. Sumiko had asked for Shi-chan. When he had arrived, Sumiko had hugged him and kissed him. They had played a game together. Shi-chan had told Sumiko a story.
“Maybe it will be better now,” Hoshi suggested.
Haru doubted that.
During their evemeal they could hear Sumiko throwing a tantrum in her room. In the end Neji-san brought her out and put her into a high chair next to Kiba-san.
She stopped crying, turned to Kiba-san and smiled.
Shi-chan was lurking in the shared area of the crew room. Haru could see him. He saw Neji-san go to him, put his arm around his shoulders and steer him towards their room.
Haru had never hated the way he hated Sumiko.
There was one good outcome. Kiba-san stayed with Sumiko while Papa supervised bath time and bedtime. Papa hugged him, kissed him and told Haru that he loved him.
Maybe it didn’t matter why Papa and To-chan had asked Shi-chan to be his genetic parent. He was their son and they loved him.
He listened to Papa finishing his rounds. Yuki asked him if To-chan was getting better.
And Haru heard it; that tiny hesitation before Papa said, “Of course he is, Yuki-chan.”
Was Papa even sadder lately? Haru imagined that he sounded particularly sad when he played and sang for them.
As soon as Papa was gone Haru buried under the covers and activated his tablet. He slipped easily through the layers of Rin-san’s security into To-chan’s medical record.
To-chan wasn’t getting better. Three rounds of treatment had failed. They were on the fourth, trying something different, and it was looking like that was going to fail too.
Papa had lied to them.
Haru did not know what not getting better meant. Would To-chan stay in the tank?
Would he die?
It would be like now, but much worse, forever.
Haru curled around his plushie, buried his head in his pillow and cried. Kazuki was out of his own bunk and beside him in a moment, snuggling close.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered.
Haru could not tell him. How could he say that he knew Papa was lying to them? “I miss To-chan,” he said, which was true.
“Me too,” Kazuki admitted and began grooming Haru’s hair.
It reminded Haru of To-chan, which hurt. Even so, it calmed him.
Finally, he slept.
Ran woke early. He and Haru were going to the laboratory this morning.
He hoped that Haru was wrong. He hoped that Shika-san would stay for the whole time.
He could feel Haru’s sadness. It was even worse than usual. Ran asked what was wrong but Haru just shook his head.
At least Shika-san was in the laboratory. He sat with Haru and admired his flyer. Haru told him about the complicated bits and they talked using words Ran did not understand.
For a few minutes Haru was happy. Even Shika-san was happy.
Then the intercom clicked. Ran felt their joy drain away even before Kiba-san’s voice filled the room.
Shika-san left and did not come back.
They concentrated on building their flyers. Suddenly Haru was more interested in finishing his than adding extra bits. Ran could detect Shino-san’s disappointment.
Near the end of the morning, a message came for Shino-san. He was needed in the control room. He offered to find someone to look after them but Haru said he wanted to go back to the playroom.
Once there, they settled down in their corner. Ran began drawing. Haru got out his tablet.
After a while, Shika-san came out of the day nursery carrying Sumiko. She was smiling at him. He looked happy.
Then she saw Haru. Ran waited. Sure enough, she started crying. Shika-san took her back into the day nursery but the screaming got worse and worse until Kiba-san went in.
Shika-san would leave soon. “Go wait,” Ran urged, pointing at the door of the playroom. “Hug him. Tell him you miss him.”
Haru shook his head. “He doesn’t want me. He wants Sumiko.”
A few minutes later Shika-san left.
Ran sighed. Haru should be fighting for what he wanted. Maybe he was a ma-so-chist too.
Looking at Haru with his eyes didn’t tell Ran much. It was just Haru sitting in a corner staring at his tablet. Using his inside-eyes it was different. Haru was so sad; it spread out from him like a puddle.
Ran wished Sumiko gone but he knew it wasn’t going to happen. There were no child catchers here. Children, even horrid ones, were cared for and got to grow up.
The flyers were pointless now; Shika-san would always be called away.
Was there anyone else Haru liked? Ran thought hard, searching his memory.
Haru had been excited when the Zetsus had arrived and disappointed when he could not see them.
“Write a letter to the Zetsus,” Ran suggested. “I’ll take it.”
And Haru smiled.
Thanks to Small Fox for being my beta. For this story he has also been my muse, suggesting a number of the ideas that have evolved to create this arc.
Thank you to those readers who have written a review and particular thanks to unneeded, YamanashiOchinashiIminashi, richon, satterb, TanuKyle, disembodiedvoiceofthedying, lonelylulaby, Dorkchic, telynaayuri, Aflyingmonkey123, Prism0467, sadie237, angelj232000 and cynaga who reviewed chapter 99.
I really enjoy hearing from readers. It is very motivating and helps me keep writing.
Apologies if the characters have grown differently in their new environment.
This is posted in the Naruto/Sasuke section because it is part of a Naru/Sasu/Naru space saga. However, it does feature many other pairings (and a few threesomes). Apologies to those hoping for Sasuke/Naruto or Naruto/Sasuke action in every chapter.
Chapter one hundred: Friend
Haru hated Sumiko.
He did not want to hate her. He tried to stop the feeling but it kept bubbling up from somewhere deep inside.
It was worst when Shi-chan was with her. Haru would watch Sumiko manipulating Shi-chan, like he was a puppet on invisible strings. Whenever Shi-chan’s attention wandered she would reclaim it. Usually it was by crying or whining. Sometimes she would throw a tantrum. Once in a while she would smile and be sweet to him, but never for long.
Most of the sweet smiles and all the fetching gestures were reserved for Neji-san. Haru could see Shi-chan’s pain as Sumiko behaved perfectly for Neji and then atrociously for him.
Her cruellest trick was when she would say that she hated him because he looked like her Pa but wasn’t her Pa. Haru would watch Shi-chan’s face. He wanted to run to him, crawl into his lap and tell him that he loved him.
But he couldn’t because Sumiko reserved her worst tantrums for when Haru came close. Kiba had spoken to Papa and Papa had made him promise to stay away when Shi-chan was with Sumiko.
Haru had tried telling Papa that it was all an act but Papa had scolded him. He had asked him how he would feel if To-chan had died rather than being in the tank getting better. He had accused him of being selfish.
Even Kiba-san was taken in. Haru could not remember much about being three but he knew he had been able to run rings around Kiba-san when he had put his mind to it. Sumiko was doing the same but no one saw it.
Only Ran agreed with him. Even Kazuki thought he was being mean.
Ran knew that Haru was unhappy. He could feel it.
Haru had his reasons. His To-chan was still in the tank. His Papa was cross with him. Kiba-san was scary. Shika-san was busy with Sumiko.
Sumiko was horrid.
It did not help that Haru thought about things again and again. That meant he got hurt again and again.
Ran wasn’t unhappy. He had his room. He was warm and comfortable. The food was tasty. No one hunted him. People were nice to him. He had friends.
Ir-chan loved him. Ran still had not decided if that was because Ir-chan was his parent or because Ir-chan loved everyone.
Ir-chan wasn’t in a tank. He was stuck on a stand but Ran could visit him and talk to him. Kashi-san was looking after him.
Ran now knew that Kashi-san loved Ir-chan a lot; maybe as much as Ir-chan loved Kashi-san. Ran liked that. It made him feel safe.
This morning he had woken later than usual. He had been tired. Being out in the ducts and voids during the night was tiring.
Haru and his brothers had promised not to go into the void; Ran had not. Adding extra pieces to Haru’s network was one way he could cheer Haru up. Ran had even learned how to make the connections. Shino-san had helped him.
Of course Shino-san didn’t know that Ran was helping Haru. He thought Ran was interested in flyers.
Ran showered, dressed and crept out into the shared area. Ir-chan’s room was open so he went in to say he was awake before going through to kitchen to get breakfast.
Choza-san was pleased to see him, as always. It was nice.
Breakfast was tasty. Afterwards Ran went back to his room, cleaned his teeth and tidied his room. Then he went to tell Ir-chan that he was going to the playroom.
He could hear Sumiko as he entered. Ran almost went back to his room but Sumiko screaming meant Shika-san was there. Haru would be upset.
If Ran were Shika-san he would dump Sumiko in the playroom early, pick her up late and not see her in between. Instead Shika-san visited in the mornings and the afternoons.
He had asked Biwako-san if there was a word for someone who did things that hurt them. Biwako-san had been worried but she had answered his question.
Ran wondered if Shika-san was a ma-so-chist.
Haru was huddled in a corner. Ran could feel his misery.
“I put the link in,” Ran told him, hoping to cheer him up, “with the booster.” Ran was not sure what the booster did.
“Thanks Ran,” Haru said but he didn’t smile. Even though his head was bowed, his gaze was fixed on the door to the day nursery.
“Hate you!” Sumiko was yelling. “Not Pa. Want Pa.”
Ran saw Haru shudder.
Kiba-san was walking towards the day nursery. Ran knew what came next. Kiba-san would go in and Shika-san would come out looking beaten. Shika-san would leave. Kiba-san would end up walking around the playroom with Sumiko.
Sumiko would stop crying and smile at Kiba-san. She would hug him and Kiba-san would be pleased.
Then Haru would start hating. Ran did not blame Haru but he did not like it.
He needed to do something.
Haru was trying to ignore Sumiko’s victory by burying himself in his tablet.
He had given up on his array for now. Whatever he tried, it would not behave. It was always busy doing stuff Haru did not think he had asked it to do.
Perhaps that was why Shi-chan had stopped using it.
Instead he had returned to hacking. He had thought about his promise to Papa. He had promised not to break Shi-chan’s filters, the ones he had set up to keep Haru from the data streams. He had not promised to stay out of the local computers, processors, networks and systems.
The easiest system to hack was Rin-san’s. Rin-san wanted to use the medical systems at all times so there was a wireless connection. Using the new booster he could access it from the playroom.
Rin-san’s security systems were easy to break; Haru was surprised that Shi-chan had not pointed that out to her.
He started investigating the medicos’ files. There was lots of interesting stuff: manuals for the machines, training programmes and masses of data.
He decided to check if he and Sumiko were really related. Perhaps it was a mistake and she wasn’t Shi-chan’s sister.
His heart sank. It was true. They shared ten chromosomes. Sumiko was his genetic aunt.
Having started looking at genomes he was hooked. He investigated how alike and how different the kits were. He compared his genome to Hoshi’s and Hikaru’s.
Next he looked at the triplets’ genomes.
He had already guessed that there was something weird about Tsuneo. Tsuneo was purebred but he looked like To-chan and the kits. Soon Haru was deep into the complexity of making human chromosomes from hybrids. Kotohime was very clever. Haru was impressed.
Then he turned his attention to Teruko and Takara and discovered that they were To-chan and Papa combined.
Haru deactivated the tablet and thrust it into his satchel. His heart was thumping and his gut twisted.
He didn’t want to know that. He wished he had a way of forgetting it. He wished he could stop the thought that had crept into his mind.
Would he and Hikaru exist if Papa and To-chan had known about Kotohime’s technique?
The kits would, because the bad men had made them. Ryuu would, because To-chan and Papa had chosen to adopt him. Hoshi would, because Haru had found out she was a clone of Mikoto Uchiha, Papa’s mother.
Tsuneo would exist, because Papa and To-chan had chosen to make him once they had To-chan’s humanised chromosomes. Teruko and Takara would exist because they were Papa and To-chan’s proper children with twenty-three chromosomes from Papa and twenty-three chromosomes from To-chan.
Only he and Hikaru had been compromises; the best Papa and To-chan could do at the time.
Hikaru was the best full-blood Uchiha male the optimising programme could come up with.
Haru was not sure why Haru existed.
Did he want to know? Why had Papa and To-chan asked Shi-chan to be his genetic parent? Was it because Shi-chan was so clever? Did Papa want another typed-genius for Uchiha? If he wasn’t a typed genius would Papa think he was a failure?
Haru wasn’t even sure if he liked being clever, never mind being a typed-genius. When you were the cleverest it was your fault when things went wrong. That was true for Shi-chan and it was true for him.
Ran was watching him. His eyes were soft with concern.
“I’m fine,” Haru lied.
Ran did not believe him. Haru understood. Ran could see what Haru was feeling.
Sometimes he wished other people could too. Then Sumiko would not get away with things. Then Papa would not think he was selfish when he wasn’t.
“Got an idea,” Ran told him.
Haru was intrigued.
“I’ll ask if we can make flyers. With Shino-san. In the laboratory. Where Shika-san is.”
Haru shoved all thoughts about genomes into a box and shut the lid. Building flyers was a wonderful idea. If Ran asked it might happen. “Thanks, Ran,” he admitted.
“I’ll talk to Kazuki,” Ran added.
Haru watched as Ran put his plan into action. First he spoke to Kazuki. Ran checked that he wasn’t interested in building a flyer.
Then he asked Biwako-san. That was clever. Biwako-san was delighted when Ran showed interest in learning something.
Biwako-san spoke to Kiba-san. Haru saw Kiba-san studying him. He was hesitating. Then he agreed to ask Papa.
That wasn’t going to happen until the midmeal at the earliest. Papa didn’t come to the playroom much since Kiba-san’s return.
Haru missed him. Seeing Papa more had helped him miss To-chan less. Cuddles in the snug were a memory, like Papa-time in Papa’s office and Shi-chan’s stories.
Ran was pleased. The plan had gone well. Kiba-san had asked Sasuke-sama. He had said yes and then asked Shino-san. Shino-san had said they could come to the laboratory the next morning.
Now they were there and Haru was happy. Shino-san tried to answer all his questions. Every time Shika-san took his goggles off he came over and talked to Haru about what he was doing.
Ran hadn’t seen Haru smile so much for ages; not since his Papa had blamed him for Hikaru almost falling from the ladder.
So Ran resisted the urge to bolt. He tried to hide how hard it was to be in a room with three adults who weren’t Ir-chan or Kono-san. He focused on Haru’s happiness.
Neji-san was watching him. After a while he left, which was good because that meant there was only Shino-san and Shika-san.
When the morning was over Haru went to eat with the others and Ran had lunch with Ir-chan and Kashi-san.
“So you like building things like flyers,” Kashi-san began.
Ran knew he was in trouble. Ir-chan was looking at him. Ran suddenly knew where Neji-san had gone.
He decided to go for part of the truth. The truth, or half-truths, usually worked.
“Haru likes building flyers,” he replied. “Haru misses his To-chan. Kiba-san might not say yes if Haru asked.”
Kashi-san relaxed and Ir-chan smiled.
“You like Haru-chan,” Ir-chan suggested.
“Haru is my friend,” Ran answered. “Kazuki is too but he didn’t want to make a flyer.”
“It’s good that you did it for Haru,” Kashi-san agreed. “You going to be able to cope?”
Ran sank his teeth into his pie and nodded.
Haru loved being in the laboratory with Shi-chan and Shino-san. It had been decided that he and Ran would go back every day, in the morning or the afternoon, until the flyers were finished.
Haru was making sure his flyer was really complicated so he would not finish it quickly.
The third time they were there the intercom clicked and Kiba-san’s voice filled the laboratory.
“Kiba here. Shika-san, if you are available, could you come to the playroom?”
Shi-chan left and did not come back.
When the same thing happened early in their fourth session, Haru’s heart sank.
Haru was good at seeing patterns. It looked like Sumiko was too.
He checked with Hoshi after the midmeal. Sumiko had asked for Shi-chan. When he had arrived, Sumiko had hugged him and kissed him. They had played a game together. Shi-chan had told Sumiko a story.
“Maybe it will be better now,” Hoshi suggested.
Haru doubted that.
During their evemeal they could hear Sumiko throwing a tantrum in her room. In the end Neji-san brought her out and put her into a high chair next to Kiba-san.
She stopped crying, turned to Kiba-san and smiled.
Shi-chan was lurking in the shared area of the crew room. Haru could see him. He saw Neji-san go to him, put his arm around his shoulders and steer him towards their room.
Haru had never hated the way he hated Sumiko.
There was one good outcome. Kiba-san stayed with Sumiko while Papa supervised bath time and bedtime. Papa hugged him, kissed him and told Haru that he loved him.
Maybe it didn’t matter why Papa and To-chan had asked Shi-chan to be his genetic parent. He was their son and they loved him.
He listened to Papa finishing his rounds. Yuki asked him if To-chan was getting better.
And Haru heard it; that tiny hesitation before Papa said, “Of course he is, Yuki-chan.”
Was Papa even sadder lately? Haru imagined that he sounded particularly sad when he played and sang for them.
As soon as Papa was gone Haru buried under the covers and activated his tablet. He slipped easily through the layers of Rin-san’s security into To-chan’s medical record.
To-chan wasn’t getting better. Three rounds of treatment had failed. They were on the fourth, trying something different, and it was looking like that was going to fail too.
Papa had lied to them.
Haru did not know what not getting better meant. Would To-chan stay in the tank?
Would he die?
It would be like now, but much worse, forever.
Haru curled around his plushie, buried his head in his pillow and cried. Kazuki was out of his own bunk and beside him in a moment, snuggling close.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered.
Haru could not tell him. How could he say that he knew Papa was lying to them? “I miss To-chan,” he said, which was true.
“Me too,” Kazuki admitted and began grooming Haru’s hair.
It reminded Haru of To-chan, which hurt. Even so, it calmed him.
Finally, he slept.
Ran woke early. He and Haru were going to the laboratory this morning.
He hoped that Haru was wrong. He hoped that Shika-san would stay for the whole time.
He could feel Haru’s sadness. It was even worse than usual. Ran asked what was wrong but Haru just shook his head.
At least Shika-san was in the laboratory. He sat with Haru and admired his flyer. Haru told him about the complicated bits and they talked using words Ran did not understand.
For a few minutes Haru was happy. Even Shika-san was happy.
Then the intercom clicked. Ran felt their joy drain away even before Kiba-san’s voice filled the room.
Shika-san left and did not come back.
They concentrated on building their flyers. Suddenly Haru was more interested in finishing his than adding extra bits. Ran could detect Shino-san’s disappointment.
Near the end of the morning, a message came for Shino-san. He was needed in the control room. He offered to find someone to look after them but Haru said he wanted to go back to the playroom.
Once there, they settled down in their corner. Ran began drawing. Haru got out his tablet.
After a while, Shika-san came out of the day nursery carrying Sumiko. She was smiling at him. He looked happy.
Then she saw Haru. Ran waited. Sure enough, she started crying. Shika-san took her back into the day nursery but the screaming got worse and worse until Kiba-san went in.
Shika-san would leave soon. “Go wait,” Ran urged, pointing at the door of the playroom. “Hug him. Tell him you miss him.”
Haru shook his head. “He doesn’t want me. He wants Sumiko.”
A few minutes later Shika-san left.
Ran sighed. Haru should be fighting for what he wanted. Maybe he was a ma-so-chist too.
Looking at Haru with his eyes didn’t tell Ran much. It was just Haru sitting in a corner staring at his tablet. Using his inside-eyes it was different. Haru was so sad; it spread out from him like a puddle.
Ran wished Sumiko gone but he knew it wasn’t going to happen. There were no child catchers here. Children, even horrid ones, were cared for and got to grow up.
The flyers were pointless now; Shika-san would always be called away.
Was there anyone else Haru liked? Ran thought hard, searching his memory.
Haru had been excited when the Zetsus had arrived and disappointed when he could not see them.
“Write a letter to the Zetsus,” Ran suggested. “I’ll take it.”
And Haru smiled.