Chapter Text
The silence of the night was cut to pieces as harsh screams could be heard throughout the family side of the Inn, with gusto and worry Hiroko jumped out of her bed and ran towards the screams. She knew from all the sleepless nights during the first year of her son's return that they were his. It had been such a long time since she's heard them, it still brought her to tears to hear them, but Yurri needed her and she had to get there now...
It felt like ages had passed until she was in front of her baby's bedroom door, swiftly opening it and turning on the light Hiroko braced herself for what she about to witness. She knew her son's recovery wouldn’t be without its hiccups but as Yurri continued to scream and thrashed wildly on his bed she knew deep down this wasn't something normal. Her son looked like he was fighting something monstrous instead of just memories. His sheets were also wrapping tightly around his torso, it seemed to Hiroko that they were only adding to Yurri's terror... she needed to wake him up and free him from them.
Yurri's hands were wildly clawing the air, trying as he might withing his dream to claw his way out of something... that wasn't right. Hiroko knew Yurri and knew he had never done something like this before. But this wasn't the time for that she needed to wake him up without getting struck herself.
Hiroko took a deep breath as she held herself together, her baby needed her. His sheets were tangled around his body forcing his limbs to also tighten up as his thrashing continued to worsen. The fear on Yuuri’s face was palatable: face red and splotchy from the lack of air that wasn't being used to fill his lungs, his screams tearing in his throat while tears streaking towards his ears and cheeks, it tore her heart to see son helpless in his sleep.
Just like he had been for so long under Saito’s torment… the screaming and crying that never seemed to stop until he laid catatonic. Was he remembering something his mind hid away? Fighting back against his tormentor in the realm of sleep? She made a grab for his hands but was struck hard by them... Hiroko felt her mind drift towards darker memories as she tried again...
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It wasn’t pleasant remembering how helpless their family truly was for those first three months of his return, it was even harder to forget the scratches and bruises they all had when Yuuri would fight them tooth and nail to be left alone even when it wasn’t good for him. He would snarl and spit and disengaged from most if not all social interactions. His therapy sessions were so grueling… so mentally taxing on her and her family. He never seemed to want to be out of the bathroom for those few months, under the sink, crying out from someone to help, and for the “Doll” to go away. They didn't have any but somehow he was still afraid of them... even with none close by.
They pushed on with it though, Yuuri needed the help and they were willing to go through the all the layers of hell to make sure their little boy was ok. Or as ok as he was going to be. It ached something fierce in Hiroko's heart. No mother should ever have to go through what her family was experiencing. Sleepless nights and tired mornings trying to ensure Yuuri had a few hours of rest so he wouldn’t strain his body and health so much. His dreams and sleep were his constant battleground. An abyss she could not enter with him.
Hiroko could admit to herself that she and Mari had a bit of a falling out because of it, they were better now, but she could tell her daughter wasn’t over it either. Mari blamed herself for Yuuri’s disappearance even if she didn’t voice it out loud. She didn’t either in fear of what would happen to their little family. Hiroko didn’t want any bad blood between her and her daughter. Mari was going to be going to a new country to study and try to heal from this nightmare. Its something they both agreed on, they all needed a break from it.
It ate away at her to know Saito would continue to affect their family even after his disappearance.
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Hiroko wasn’t ready to know that her son had been violated, but the police made sure to tell her that Yuuri had been raped; it made her feel sick knowing her child had his humanity taken from him in the cruelest of ways, innocence and peace of mind stripped from him by someone he knew and she just never got justice for him. It made her beyond bitter about how Yuuri’s case had been handled: the inaction of the police from that school and how there was nothing that they could have done other than search fruitlessly for their son. It wasn’t like they knew he was in there either.. so close by but hidden away in an old bathroom in the abandoned school that was scheduled for demolition.
She felt so useless. How could she allow her son to be missing for so long? He should have been at home with her and not out there lost and possibly... NO. Hiroko held that particular thought down. Yurri had to come back home she needed her son home and safe. She should have gone to get him when Mari hadn't come home on time yet again. Too busy was she in disciplining Mari's unruly behavior instead of making sure Yurri came home and was safe, ultimately Yurri paid the price for her inattentiveness.
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The abandoned school never got torn down, the contract fell through and it sat atop the wooded area on that hill fenced off but still standing. There were rumors of it being haunted Saito wasn’t found, only speculated to have killed himself out of guilt or to get away with what he had done without consequences. There was a lot of blood set in a long trail at the school. It wasn't Yurri's thank Kami; the DNA tests confirmed it…but it trailed down the hallways in splatters. Something had been tearing him apart when he escaped. Hiroko had secretly prayed it killed him but there just wasn’t a body to be found by the end of the trail. WIthout seeing it Hiroko had no proof that he wouldn't one day return. Perhaps he was still out there taking other children for his sick and cruel hunger.
She never got the full story from the police at that point, only bits and pieces of information they felt they could give her. It wasn’t enough. She didn’t know the extent of Yuuri’s suffering because he didn’t want to speak about it to her. And why would he? It was her fault he had been in that hellhole for so long, SHE failed him. Hiroko didn't look hard enough she didn't search long enough and maybe this was his way of getting back at them.
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She hated his therapist at first, but it seemed she knew how to quite Yuuri’s intense rage and violent fits. It made her feel less of a mother to know that someone else could silence the demons that invaded Yurri's mind and festered within his soul. Hiroko was in a rut for that first year, the silence in the second that followed made her weep into her husband’s shoulders at night. So much of her boy was lost during that time. His mind broken and his spirit laid barring all the scars of his tormentor's sick joy.
It took so much therapy for Yuuri to come back, even then he was a shell of his former self. But she could see glimpses of his past self. Then during last year in March… her child bloomed back up and everything felt right… she had her suspicions but she tried to embrace the change. And now well something was again hurting her baby again and she couldn’t even protect him. What kind of mother was she?
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Not wanting that bitterness to fester in her heart any longer she shook her negative thoughts away. She would worry about that after her baby was ok, but for now, Yuuri was still locked in his night terror and she needed to help him break out of it. Usually, after a few minutes, Yurri would wake on his own, disoriented and confused before bursting into hysterical crying. This wasn't the case tonight.
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Rushing again towards Yurri she tried grabbing his face to open his eyes and force him awake, her screaming his name didn't seem to break him out of his mental battle but maybe this would pull him out of his dream: as if sensing where she would have been trying to place her hands Yuuri let out a deep snarl and began to bite at her. Hiroko managed to keep her fingers from nearly being chewed off as Yuuri’s teeth came close to tearing onto them.
She needed her husband's strength so she yell out into the night hoping her voice could reach him.
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Wake up Yuuri! Toshiya come here!! Please, I need you!!!
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Trying to unwrap the sheets from her son by herself proved too difficult as well as Hiroko tried to keep Yuuri’s feet from kicking at her, she kept calling out to her husband for help. Toshiya’s footsteps could be heard racing down the hallway not too long after her first plea.
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Yuuri may have only been a ten-year-old boy, but his intense physical training made him a lot stronger then both parents anticipated. They would need each other for this to work.
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Toshiya jumped into action as he barreled into the room looking so panicked and disheveled he almost looked like a homeless vagrant, staring at his wife who had Yuuri’s legs in a vice grip. He tried getting a hold of Yuuri’s shoulders to pin him from that point. The thrashing only got worse as both parents held Yuuri down. Once they freed his torso from the sheet Toshiyo had to block several blows from the boy’s sinewy arms. His reflects were tested several times as Yuuri tried to claw his face with his fortunately blunt nails.
Together they finally managed to subdue their screaming child only for when the sheets to have been finally pulled away from him he fell back into silence. The nightmare seemed to be over for Yurri but the silence that followed was more deafening then the screams. Looking over to one another Hiroko only managed to hold herself up long enough for Toshiyo to take a hold of her before she dropped to the ground in exhaustion. “What happened Hiro?” Toshiya softly whispered... "I heard you scream for me Hiro, I was so scared." it humbled Hiroko to know that her husband had feared for her safety but she needed to let him know what happened.
After spending a few minutes recounting what she had walked into Hiroko let her arms pull away from her husband... they needed to address the issue head on... but the cold of the night wrapped still weaved itself into her bones. Her adrenaline was wearing off pushing her closer towards a crash.
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Together they both stared down at Yuuri. They were both afraid for him. Afraid of what they had just witnessed. Neither were in the mood to share their fears.
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Beyond all the terror they faced these past few years with their son it wasn’t hard to guess what Yuuri could have been dreaming of. The therapist told them his memories might come back in the form of dreams or flashbacks, maybe they needed to bring his therapist back full time as they had done for the first year? Would their son be willing to tell them his dreams later on? Could he even trust them with his secrets like he trusted the therapist?
Drying off their tears that had rolled down her face Hiroko gave a shudder against her husband's shoulder glad that their child’s episode seemed to have finally passed. Though an uneasy feeling still lingered between them as they let their heartbeats return to normal. This was always the hard part of watching Yurri at night that they hadn't had to deal with since that day when Yurri openly embraced Hiroko at breakfast. Yurri tended to relapse into a mental block after an episode, they could never tell how long it would last. Both mother and father hoped Yurri would forget about the dream and be ok in the morning but that was wishful thinking... the morning would bring them their answer.
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Hiroko gently grazed her fingers across Yuuri’s soft cheeks wiping away all his tears. Not wanting to leave him alone in case something else happened Toshiya scooped Yuuri up and went to their bedroom. Both of them walked together through the hallway only to be rushed at by their daughter. Mari was in the hallway with a bat in her hand. She took one look at Yuuri and them.
Walking over to her brother she kissed his cold cheeks and wished her parents good night. She knew that they would tell her when they were ready. She wasn’t ready for this right now either, but they would tell her.
They would keep watch for the remainder of the night tucking their son between them as he slept.