Just The Two of Us

Just the two of us.. Just the two of us..
Just the two of us.. Just the two of us..
Just the two of us.. Just the two of us..
Just the two of us.. Just the two of us..

The house was quiet. So quiet that you could hear a pin drop. The door to the nursery creaked open and a raven-haired man with blue fox eyes stepped into the room and walked towards the cot a few feet away from the window. The baby looked so adorable sleeping peacefully under her warm pink blanket that the man didn't have the heart to disturb her slumber. But he couldn't afford to leave her behind in the house alone. Gently, he lifted the redheaded baby out and carried her downstairs with utmost care that the toddler didn't even wake up to the sudden glare of the lights from the several rooms the two of them passed through.

Baby your da-da loves you (hey)
And I'm always be here for you (hey) no matter what happens
You're all I got in this world

Rukawa stepped over several red trails, careful not to slip on it and hurt his precious bundle. Ignoring the splatters of the same colour on the walls and counters, he exited the house through the kitchen and walked towards the back lawn where he left the car running. It was then the baby woke up with a whine and Rukawa quickly crooned some nonesense words into her ear to sooth her down with his voice. The baby immedietly recognised the man's voice and cuddled close to his warmth, an instinct from the young when having a protective body in her reach. It has been months since he has held her like this and Rukawa missed the loving act sorely. He missed the way she looked at him with her brown eyes, her cute attempts at speech and her automatic trust in him everytime she was in his arms. Rukawa stroked her feathery soft red hair and sighed, feeling at peace because she was now back in his life. He has made sure of that. Now, all he wanted to do was to go back home with the baby, take a shower and then sleep the rest of the night away, and probably the morning as well, with the bundle of joy close by his side.

I would never give you up for nothin
Nobody in this world is ever gonna keep you from me
I love you

~~~~

C'mon Hai-Hai, we goin to the beach
Grab a couple of toys and let da-da strap you in the car seat

The wind has been getting warmer these past few weeks. Spring is nearly gone and summer has shown its shadow with the increasing heat in the night and more so in the day. Rukawa was thankful that the temperature was cooler at the moment than it has been in the day, especially with the wind from the ocean blowing away the sweat he has gotten from the hard work he did two hours ago.

The beach was serene in the night time. Waves rolled in like a rythm set by nature and up above, the moon shone brightly illuminating the deserted place and making it absolutely breath-taking. He regretted the fact that he wasn't able to watch the sunset but he loved the pale glow of the moon just the same. Hanamichi did as well. Long ago, he and the redhead would go on walks on the beach together and when they were alone, he and Hanamichi would hold hands and steal bold hugs and kisses since there was no one else to see them. Now all those days and nights were gone.

Rukawa pulled himself away from the scenic view and headed back towards the car. Sitting in the driver's seat he leaned towards the passenger's side and stroked the baby's chubby cheek with his finger. The baby stared at him, waiting for the man to give her an explanation. Everyone though that he was one who found speaking harder than pulling teeth. He admitted to himself that he indeed would rather stay silent and speak when necessary. Hanamichi was the only person to hear him speak more than anyone else in his life-time and he quite enjoyed their petty quarrels and loved their heart-to-heart conversations when they were alone. Other than the redhead, the baby also get to hear the rare deep and soft voice of the silent Rukawa Kaede because he believed that babies soak up knowledge quicker than adults could and therefore he made a point to speak about averything and anything to her. Hanamichi had thought that Rukawa was being cute especially when the fox-eyed man spoke in words only gushing old aunts would use and making faces to amuse his redheaded princess. Ever since the baby came into Rukawa's life he has been a doting parent to Hanamichi's daughter, often annoying the redhead when both would disagree on what the baby liked and what she didn't like.

They were a happy family. After Hanamichi was seperated from his wife of three years, Rukawa found the redhead at his doorstep with a redheaded angel in his arms. She was an exact replica of the redheaded man, only smaller and cuter. The baby's name was Sakura. Sakuragi Sakura. It was a catchy name and it fit her perfectly. Rukawa was glad that she didn't look much like her mother.

Rukawa thought of Hanamichi's ex-wife with bitterness.
He and Hanamichi had broken up because the redhead had wanted to stop fearing of being shunned by his parents and society if they knew he had a male lover. When Hanamichi married, the redhead literally dropped out of Rukawa's life only to appear again in a bar one night after one of his fights with his wife. Still in love with the redhead, Rukawa accepted him with open arms and he helped the man go through the hardships before, during and after the divorce with the woman. When Rukawa first held Sakura in his arms, the raven-haired man met someone else to love. Hanamichi's heart belonged to him and in return he accepted Hanamichi's daughter as his own. It was not difficult to do so because even the coldest person would be unable to resist Sakura's charm.

His happiness was shattered when Hanamichi was killed in a ferry accident one fateful afternoon. When he found out that Hanamichi has named him as the succeeding guardian for the baby, it did help him cope with the loss of his first love but life hit him again in the gut when Hanamichi's ex-wife found out that Rukawa was Hanamichi's lover. She was appalled that her daughter has been living with her ex-husband and his male lover for more than a year and immedietly took action to seize her child back. Rukawa fought back but he lost. The woman managed to take back her child and slapped a restraining order onto Rukawa to prohibit him to come near Sakura. He hated her like hell.

Speaking of the bitch...

Oh where's mama? She's takin a little nap in the trunk
Oh that smell (whew!) da-da musta runned over a skunk

Rukawa opened the bonet of the car and nearly winced when the strong scent of blood hit him from the confinement. After hauling the female body out and placing her on the pebbly ground just beside the sand where the shore starts, he went back and began to unfasten the straps to the kiddy seat where Sakura was sitting in. She didn't cry when he brought her out from the warmth of the car but she was puzzled as to why they were there.

Now I know what you're thinkin - it's kind of late to go swimmin
But you know your mama, she's one of those type of women
that do crazy things, and if she don't get her way, she'll throw a fit

Sakura was already two and she knew how to sit without toppling over. She also knew how to hold things which caught her fancy and catching sight of a shiny object beside Rukawa, she picked it up with her stubby fingers and began waving it to and fro with delight.

Don't play with da-da's toy knife, honey, let go of it (no!) And don't look so upset, why you actin bashful?

Rukawa panicked and snatched his knife away from the baby's hands before she hurt herself. Cursing himself through seven levels of hell, he missed the blank look from Sakura's face when she was suddenly and rudely deprived of her new toy. When he heard her whimper, he quickly picked her up to comfort her. Sitting her on his lap, he began to play around with the sand in front of them, enticing Sakura to play with the sand's ability to mold itself into ugly lumps. The baby was easily distracted and cooed when he placed her on the sand to play before he sighed in relief.
Rukawa smiled as he watched the little darling pat and grab at the sands excitedly. It was his first genuine smile ever since Hanamichi died and Rukawa allowed it to grow until he started chuckling along with the baby's giggles.

Don't you wanna help da-da build a sand castle? (yeah!)
And mama said she wants to show how far she can float

Shifting his attention away from the child, Rukawa looked back to the woman lying behind him. Sensing what Rukawa was doing, the baby took a peek towards her mother as well, curious as to why her okaasan was silent than she normally was. If not for the light from the moon, the gash on the woman's throat would've been invisable. As it was, Rukawa was able to see the horizontal cut on her slender neck, fresh blood still flowing out of the wound as if he has just made the cut. Her light blue dress was stained with the dark red colour on the area of her chest and left shoulder and her hair was mussed up from it's neat bun. Knowing what a fussy person she was on cleanliness, Rukawa would've liked to laugh imagining her waking up suddenly to this kind of state. That scene would be impossible, however, because she won't wake up ever.

And don't worry about that little boo-boo on her throat
It's just a little scratch - it don't hurt, her was eatin
dinner while you were sweepin and spilled ketchup on her shirt
Mama's messy isn't she? We'll let her wash off in the water
and me and you can pway by ourselves, can't we?

Leaving Sakura and the body on the beach, he went again back to the car to fetch some rope. Walking back towards the body, Rukawa found out that the baby has found another toy to play. It was a cotton-white seashell with stripes of pink along the ridges and she began to inspect it, turning it over left to right, up and down. As if satsified, Sakura placed it on the mound of sand she has been working on and gurgled in pleasure as she clapped her hands. Looking up at Rukawa, she smiled toothily, wanting acknowledgement for her artistic talent.

"Nice, work, Sakura-chan," Rukawa said stroking her hair. Pleased, she went back to her art.

Just the two of us.. Just the two of us..
And when we ride!
Just the two of us.. Just the two of us..
Just you and I!
Just the two of us.. Just the two of us..
And when we ride!
Just the two of us.. Just the two of us..
Just you and I!

As Sakura was preoccupied with her play, Rukawa looked back to the body. It was still there. Not that he expected it to stand up and start to walk away.
He wished for all of this to not have happened. He wanted everything to go back to where it should be with Hanamichi and Sakura in their house, the three of them living blissfully together. But as much as he liked to forget, what he did was what happened and now he needed to finish it.
Which reminded him that he needed to go back to Hanamichi's ex wife's house to clean it up so that no one would expect the worst. Foul play maybe but it won't be as bad as murder, could it? Or he could just make the place out so that people would think that the family was robbed and kidnapped...

See honey.. there's a place called heaven and a place called hell
A place called prison and a place called jail
And da-da's probably on his way to all of em except one
Cause mama's got a new husband and a stepson
And you don't want a brother do ya? (Nah)
Maybe when you're old enough to understand a little better
I'll explain it to ya

Yes, it was terrible what he did but he thought that it wasn't fair that Hanamichi's ex-wife was able to start a new family with a step-son and a new loving husband and then taking Sakura away from him when he has just lost Hanamichi. Why couldn't she have left Sakura and him alone?

But for now we'll just say mama was real real bad
She was bein mean to dad and made him real real mad
But I still feel sad that I put her on time-out

With the wind blowing his way, Rukawa smelt something bad. No, it wasn't the blood from the corpse in front of him but it was coming from the baby who looked like she was in a state of discomfort. Knowing why, Rukawa sighed and picked Sakura up and carried her to the car. Slipping her back into the kid's seat, he went to the backseat and began rummaging through the stuff he brought before he came to pick the baby up from her mother. The yellow light from the car was not enough to help him in his search. His hands encountered a rattle, a milk bottle, various sets of baby clothes .... ah, there it was - a new clean diaper.

Sit back in your chair honey, quit tryin to climb out (WAHH!)
I told you it's okay HaiHai, wanna ba-ba?
Take a night-night? Nan-a-boo, goo-goo ga-ga?
Her make goo-goo ca-ca? Da-da change your dia-dee
Clean the baby up so her can take a nighty-nighty

Sakura was quickly getting restless, squirming in her chair and making plaintiff noises. Rukawa picked her up after getting the backseat ready for Sakura and laid her down on the backseat before changing her diaper efficiently. Hanamichi has coached him how to do that sort of task before and he knew that he was even better than the redhead in doing them. He might even be the perfect gay father any kid could ever have.

Your dad'll wake her up as soon as we get to the water
Ninety-seven Bonnie and Clyde, me and my daughter

~~~~

Rukawa brought Sakura back to the spot where her mother still lay lifeless when he suddenly had a thought. If he was to throw the dead woman into the ocean, wouldn't the tides bring her in? He frowned in thought. He needed to find another place to dump the body. Deciding quickly, he packed Sakura back into the car and carried the body back into the bonet to lay in a crumpled heap, blood slowly ebbing from the wound. It won't be long before the blood flow stopped all together but damn it, that stain would be a pain to wash... With another thought, Rukawa stopped for a moment to select a few big rocks on the sand nearby and labouriously carried them to sit at the back seat of the car.

Bringing the car out of the beach, Rukawa drove towards a lake a few kilometres away. People used to go fishing there but now that acitivity was prohibited to preserve the remaining wild life. Sakura was again feeling restless since she was getting sleepy. She tried to doze off but with the way the car rocked when Rukawa lifted the body out of the bonet and the sound of his shoes clomping on the pier's wooden floor and together with the sound of something hard and heavy being dropped, the quietness was disturbed.

Wake up sweepy head we're here, before we pway
we're gonna take mama for a wittle walk along the pier

The baby's pink lips trembled, a sign of a full-fledged cry about to start. When she did start to cry, Rukawa hurried back to car and began speaking more soothing nonesense into her ear. She wasn't consoled and she carried on crying even when he sat her down on his lap beside the dead body of her mother's.

Baby, don't cry honey, don't get the wrong idea
Mama's too sweepy to hear you screamin in her ear (ma-maa!)
That's why you can't get her to wake, but don't worry

"Don't worry, baby. It won't be long," Rukawa said, patting her back. The baby's cries finally subsided but she was still sobbing into Rukawa's stomach while the man began to tie the rope that he brought with him onto the corpse's ankle and then tying to other end onto the heavy rock he has picked up just now.

Da-da made a nice bed for mommy at the bottom of the lake
Here, you wanna help da-da tie a rope around this rock? (yeah!)
We'll tie it to her footsie then we'll roll her off the dock

Satisfied that the ties were secure, Rukawa rolled the body off of the pier. It was gone with a splash and with it went Rukawa's burden. He wanted to jump with joy but first he needed to dispose of two more bodies...

Ready now, here we go, on the count of free..
One.. two.. free.. WHEEEEEE! (whoooooshhhhh)

There goes mama, spwashin in the wa-ta
No more fightin wit dad, no more restraining order

No more step-da-da, no more new brother
Blow her kisses bye-bye, tell mama you love her (mommy!)
Now we'll go play in the sand, build a castle and junk
But first, just help dad with two more things out the trunk

~~~~

The job was done. Carrying the now quiet baby girl to the car, Rukawa drove back to his house to pack some things up. He needed help to sell the house that he bought and making a mental note to call an agent tomorrow, he would have the money sent to his account to help them both settle at a new place far away from here. Maybe back to Kanagawa where he first met Hanamichi. No, that would be troublesome because if the authorities get suspicious of his sudden disappearance at the same time Hanamichi's ex-wife and her new family also went missing, the first place they'll look for him was where he lived when he was a kid. He would need to find someplace else which is nice and peaceful where Sakura could grow up happily without any problem.

Just the two of us.. Just the two of us..
Just the two of us.. Just the two of us..

He still has the certificate of guardianship for Sakura in his files so maybe he can open a new account under Sakura's name so that he can use it until the fire dies down. Using his own account would make it easy for people to find him especially when he have to take out money from the tellers. He's rich enough with the profit from the stocks he wisely bought more than five years ago so he figured that he could take some of the money out and place it in Sakura's account to help them get through comfortably for a couple of years. Shaking the authorities off would be easy since he planned to open the new account in another state and in a new bank.

Just me and you baby
is all we need in this world
Just me and you
Your da-da will always be there for you
Your da-da's always gonna love you
Remember that

They would start a new life, Sakura and himself, and they would live happily again as a family. He vowed to protect her from harm and he would fight for her with any bad things that might want to seduce her. Sakura would grow up happy and beautiful and any boy that would want to hurt her would pay the price. Already Rukawa knew that she would be attractive, as attractive as her redheaded father. Maybe she would be as cold and aloof as her fox-eyed outosama but Rukawa was sure she could exude Hanamichi's charm with ease. They would have fun together and maybe he could teach her how to play good basketball. She would be the best because she was after all the Tensai's daughter. And his.

If you ever need me I will always be here for you
If you ever need anything, just ASK
Da-da will be right there
Your da-da loves you
I love you baby

~Owari~

The lyrics to this song is taken from Eminem's album single "The Way I Am". After I made this fic, I just read from an anti-Eminem page that he is a gay basher ^^;; Geh....