Chapter Twelve: Threat of Law goes Two Ways

 

            *She fumbled with the lock on her apartment door. She could hear him growling behind her, and it only made her more nervous. What would he do once inside her apartment? She hoped he wouldn’t disturb Ben. It would be so cruel to tell him his father was home, then to have him leave again. And the worst part was, if everything didn’t go his way, Darien would fix it so she never saw Ben again. What had she ever seen in him?

            “Hurry up.” He snarled.

            “There, it’s open. Be quiet, you don’t want to wake him.” He grunted, and she wasn’t sure if that meant yes, no, or that he didn’t care.

            “Nice dump.” He told her smirking.

            “I’d like to think so.” She retorted. “Kelly?”

            “Oh, hello Ms. Tsukino! I just got Ben to sleep, so he should be gone until morning. He was a perfect angel, as always. He and Hii…” the girl trailed off when she noticed the look in Serena’s eye. She knew when she was being told through a glance to watch what she said.

            “Who’s that?” Darien pointed towards Kelly. It made the younger teen want to run and hide.

            “This is my neighbor’s daughter, Kelly. She baby sits for Ben. Kelly, this is Ben’s father, Darien Chiba.” Serena stressed the word father in hopes the younger teen would pick it up. She did indeed, for her eyes widened a degree and she nodded in acknowledgement.

            “Nice to meet you Mr. Chiba. Ms. Serena, I have to be going. You can pay me later. Bye!” The girl grabbed her backpack and hightailed it out of the apartment.

            “Where is he?” Darien barked, not giving Serena a chance to respond to Kelly.

            “Right in here. Be quiet now.” Serena lead him into the hallway and opened Ben’s bedroom door. Stepping lightly, she opened the door wider for Darien. What else could she do? He wasn’t giving her many choices. He barged in and then stopped. Kneeling down at the side of the bed, he breathed quieter and stayed silent.

            Serena wanted to pick up Ben and run him away, far away from Darien, but she knew she couldn’t. She wanted to shield him, protect him from the world of the evil Darien, but she couldn’t do that either. All she could do was watch helplessly as Darien stroked her son’s raven-wing hair. Finally, he stood and walked out of the room. Giving one last look to her son, Serena shut the door behind them and walked him back to the living room of the apartment.

            “So you’ve seen your son. Now leave Darien.”

            “Why? We were just getting reacquainted. Why rush the exit my sweet?” He asked, smiling sickeningly sweetly. She shuddered. What was he up to?

            “Why rush it? Because I don’t want you near me or my son. Get lost. You’re a creep, you’ve always been a creep, and you’ll always be a creep. I don’t want to get to know you again, once was too much as it was. Now I’m going to tell you one more time: get lost or I call…”

            “Or you call who? You’re pathetic Serena. Face it, you can’t beat me. I always get what I want, and what I want is you.” He grabbed her waist and threw her to the couch. His mouth covered hers in a bruising kiss. Then she felt his hands traveling up her shirt and trying to unclasp her bra. She struggled harder, but it was no use. He was going to rape her, right here, right now, fifty feet from her sleeping son in her own apartment. This wasn’t right, it just couldn’t happen this way!

            “Get your Goddamned hands off of her!” A gruff and low voice rang out into the empty room. Suddenly Darien was pulled from behind off of Serena’s lithe form and onto the floor. She looked up to see Hiiro Yui standing over her ex-boyfriend, a gun poised at Darien’s head and a dark frown on his face.

            “What the fuck? And just who in hell do you think you are?” Darien snapped at Hiiro. The only thing keeping him on the ground was the threat of Hiiro’s gun. Serena had completely forgotten about Hiiro. Once again, he had become her savoir. First her son, then her butt, and now her innocence; or what was left of it anyway.

            “Hiiro Yui.” He looked up and saw the frightened look in Serena’s eyes when she looked at Darien. He had heard Darien’s entire conversation with Serena, from the moment they had stepped into the apartment. He hadn’t wanted to get involved because he had thought it was none of his business, but when Serena had been in danger of being raped by him, for some reason he had had the urge to want to kill this freak. He had acted upon the urge without question as well. Anything to protect Serena. Anything.

            “Well, Hiiro Yui, what the fuck do you think gives you the right to interfere with Serena and I, hmm?” He was too cocky for his own good.

            “I’m her boyfriend, that’s what.” His breath stopped. What was he thinking? He really was losing it! Going soft over a girl…

Serena could not believe it. First he had saved her, and now he was calling himself her boyfriend to get rid of Darien! Was this man a saint in a past life or what? Good looking, strong, brave, and willing to go out on a limb to protect people. He really was a perfect. The perfect soldier. Hey! That was the nickname Duo had used when he’d said the Perfect Soldier wouldn’t like not seeing her again! Things just kept taking new twists and turns all the time.

“Her… boyfriend!” Now Darien’s eyes were wide with fear. He was in trouble now… “Serena! You never mentioned you had a boyfriend!” He accused her.

“I didn’t know you would try to rape me you pervert.” She told him evenly, standing from the couch and stepping behind the safety of Hiiro’s body.

“Get out Mr. Chiba. And if you think about coming back, there will be a bullet with your name on it. Move.” Hiiro said coldly. It worked, because within seconds Darien was standing and heading for the door.

“Just you two wait! I’m going to slap you with an arrest warrant for attempted murder so fast it’ll set your heads spinning!” He growled.

“You can try, but it wouldn’t do much good.” Hiiro growled right back, sounding just as menacing.

“And why’s that?” Sneered Darien.

“Hnn.” Hiiro smirked this time as he grunted. Darien didn’t respond, so Hiiro gently slammed the door and locked it. Turning to Serena, he saw her long face. Before opening his mouth, he gently grasped her shoulders and led her into her bedroom. Shutting the door behind them, he finally turned to look at her. Her back was face him, and he could see it shaking.

“Serena?” He ventured.

“Oh God!” She turned around and flung herself into his arms. He simply returned her hug and then held her, letting her cry her tears into his bare and bandaged chest. When her crying subsided, she pulled away and wiped her tears away.

“I’m sorry Hiiro. I just… oh stars!” She just felt like crying, just absolutely sobbing. So much had happened these last few days. The school, Hiiro, her jobs, Darien, Ben… it all added up, and she just couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“It’s fine. You need to cry more anyway. I don’t think you do enough.” She laughed despite herself.

“I don’t see you crying much.” She told him.

“I don’t know how to cry. I’ve forgotten.” He told her quietly. “Why do you let him push you around?”

“He threatened to sue me and take away Ben… for good. How could I let him do that?”

“He couldn’t. You’re a good mother. You’d win the court battle.” Hiiro told her.

“No. I couldn’t afford a lawyer, and besides, what good mother dances at a strip club while leaving her son with a babysitter?”

“One who wants to earn enough money to support her son comfortably. And Quatre could represent you as a lawyer. He’s good in that area of expertise…”  she laughed again. It felt good.

“Thank you. I needed that.”

“So you did.” He smirked. She noticed something for the first time.

“Hey! You got up out of bed! And you exerted physical force when you’re badly injured! Hiiro!” He laughed. She loved the sound of the rich, low, melodious laughter he produced.

“I had to! Would you rather me let him touch you? Not on my watch.” He cocked his gun, then put the safety on it and spun it around his finger. She stopped it and took it from him.

“Now, now, no more toys for Hiiro. Not until he tells Serena why he said he was her boyfriend.” She wiggled her finger in his face, mocking him. He caught it and held it.

“I think the question is, did you mind being called my girlfriend?” He smirked. She couldn’t believe this was the cold and uncaring man she had met only a day earlier.

“No, I didn’t. But.” She pulled back. Was she ready?

“But?” His smirk had now been replaced with a serious look.

“But I’m not sure about this… I mean, what if we decide it doesn’t work? Or one of us gets injured? Killed? Our jobs? And… I don’t want to be hurt again…” She paced across the bed in front of him.

“Neither am I. I do know that in the last few days I’ve felt more emotions than in the rest of my life. You, and Ben, both make me feel different, wanted. I feel like I belong, and I don’t want to let that go. I’m not sure either, but if we don’t try, we’ll never know. I do, however, promise you I will never hurt you the way Darien has.” He vowed. How could he even think of hurting such an innocent as Serena?

“I…” She wanted to tell him yes, to run to his arms, to scream and shout out for him to hold her, kiss her, comfort her. She wanted to. So why couldn’t she? Why was she hesitating? “I’m sorry. I just don’t know. It’s too much right now.” Tears fell again. Why did she have to push him away? Now he would hate her. Men!

Hiiro understood, for once, what she meant when she said that it was too much right now. His own senses were totally overloaded; it was only natural to assume hers were the same. But that didn’t mean he was giving up… oh no, far from it. He reached up to brush away her tears. Those pesky tears. He wished he could banish them from her eyes forever. Knowing he couldn’t, he settled for impishly brushing them aside, then drawing her in closer to him and holding her tight.

Such warmth. So he wasn’t going to leave her, even after her rejection? Maybe she had judged him too quickly. But she had to know for certain.

“You’re not leaving because I said no?” She asked him, hoping against hope he would say no.

“No.” Her heart soared. “I understand what you mean by too much, I feel the same way. But I still want to be near you, even just as a friend.”

“I’d like that. I really would.” She looked up at him and smiled a blinding smile through her tears. Laying her head back down on is chest, she yawned. While Ben and Hiiro had slept in earlier that morning, she had been up like clockwork, at exactly six o’clock. She was so tired now, and Hiiro was so warm, so safe, comfortable…

He looked down to find the angel asleep. Smirking, he placed her on her bed and crawled in beside her. He didn’t think she would mind, seeing as how they were both dressed. And he was certainly not going to put her on the couch, and she would have a fit if she found him on it. Closing his eyes, he too, drifted off into the dream world.

>>>)(<<<

“You do like peanut butter and jelly, don’t you Hiiro?” She asked him. It was noon, and since school was out for an unknown amount of time, Serena was making lunch for Ben. And Hiiro, of course. When she had awoken earlier that morning, she had found herself snuggled beside a stranger. But she had been warm and felt safe, so she hadn’t given it a second thought and gone back to bed. That was, until six seventeen, when, just like clockwork, Ben had burst into her bedroom, waking both her and Hiiro. She had been slightly embarrassed when he asked why they had slept together, but when Hiiro explained it, it had made perfect sense. Now the only thing that was making sense in her mind was who liked what on their sandwiches.

“Hnn.” He had gone back to his grunting, but for some strange reason she usually understood what he wanted to say. It was like his own special ‘Hiiro language’ that only she and a few select others could understand. It was almost fun guessing.

“Alright then, here you go. Ben, how’s your pb&j taste?”

“Perfect-o momma!” He said with his mouth full, breadcrumbs spilling everywhere. She and Hiiro burst out laughing. While they were laughing, her apartment buzzer rang. Walking to answer it, she found in front of her Duo, Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei. She tried to hide her surprise.

“Guys! Hey! Come on in! What are you all doing here?” She asked them.

“Well, we figured since we hadn’t heard from Hiiro that he had died. We just came to collect his body for the funeral.” Duo laughed at his own joke. No one else thought it was funny.

“Right. Well, he’s actually…” She was cut off by a very loud and very rude noise for the kitchen. Following the noise came a deep throaty laugh floating and wafting through her apartment.

“Did you have company Ms. Serena?” Quatre asked her.

“No, just you all and Hiiro, why?” She was completely puzzled. And a little upset at the noise. Ben was going to hear it later; she had already told him burping was not appropriate thing to show off.

“Oh, well…” Quatre started.

“Who laughed?” and Duo finished.

“Hiiro did of course. I’m sorry; Ben seems to be going through a stage in which he thinks burping id the coolest thing on this side of the galaxy. It really makes me poleaxed.

“But Hiiro laughed?” Trowa managed to spit out.

“Yeah. What’s wrong, you guys act like he’s never laughed before.” She smiled at their pitiful faces.

“He hasn’t. Yui does not laugh. He knows emotions are weak.” Wufei corrected Serena. She simply shrugged it off and motioned for them to follow her into the kitchen.

“Hiiro, the guys are here to collect you.” She watched as his face fell. Not noticeably to the rest of his friends of course, but enough so that she could see. He really liked staying with her and Ben.

“Hnn.” She almost laughed at is unaffectionate reaction to his friend’s arrival. Now he had to leave. Poor guy.

“Nice to see you too Hiiro buddy!” Duo yelled out.

“Mr. Duo, I can’t hear anymore!” Ben called out. The rest of the guys laughed. Serena heard her buzzer ring again. Thinking it was Hilde or Connie, or one of her other few friends, she buzzed them in and waited at the door. A man in a pressed black suit and starched white collar climbed the steps. Her heart stopped.

“Are you a Miss. Serena Usagi Tsukino?” The man asked her.

“Yes. What can I do for you Mr…?”

“Apolis. John Apolis. I’m Mr. Chiba’s lawyer, and I just wanted to let you know, Mr. Chiba is pressing charges of abuse and child infringement rights.”

“What?” She breathed.

“He is suing you for…”

“I heard you the first time, thank you. She shut the door in his face.

“Serena? Who was it?” Called a voice from the kitchen. She walked back into it in a daze.

“It was Darien’s lawyer. Hiiro, he’s following through with his threat to sue me. I’m ruined!” She sat on the nearest available chair and put her face in her hands. Her shoulders began to shake, and then Hiiro knew she was crying. Shit, this was not good, definitely not good. Who would have thought that as spineless a snake as Darien would grow a backbone over night? *