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His mother is lounging half asleep on the couch, the soft glowing light coming from the tv frames her, and Haruno briefly thinks that maybe if he were to crawl up next to her she wouldn’t push him away. He shakes the idea from his mind, he’s given up on that by now, and besides tonight he’s on a mission.
He doesn’t really have to sneak around from room to room, his step father is still at work and he’s always felt invisible in this house anyway but he slips cautiously past his mother and into the hall. Like he thought, she doesn’t stir.
Haruno can’t help but glance around nervously as he opens his mother’s bedroom door, but it doesn’t creak and his slim frame slides into the dark room with ease. He almost trips in the dark on what he assumed must be clothing carelessly strewn on the floor, but he shuffles slowly against the wall until he bumps into her dresser, he pulls gently and the drawer opens. Just feeling around he can tell how messy and packed it is. His fingers brush against jewelry, more clothes shoved tightly in, and god knows what else before he finds it.
She keeps the picture in a little black case, almost like she treasures it, but Haruno knows she can’t possibly care about his father, his real father now, after all why would she shove such an important thing in a drawer filled with junk? Why wouldn’t she wait for him? And why would she mistreat h-
There’s a creak in the hallway and Haruno nearly sprints out of the room before he realizes it was just the pipes.Still he’s been lingering in here for too long. He closes the drawer gently and slips back out, hoping his thievery wasn’t obvious.
Haruno doesn't retreat into his room now that he’s found the picture. Instead he enters the hall closet. He like to sit there sometimes, especially if his step-father has been particularly cruel or if his mother has been out for hours and he has no idea where she is. The hall closet is Haruno sized, there isn't a way for any adults to bother him in there.
It is a bit cramped at first, filled with jackets and shoe boxes, but he can nestle in all right if he just wiggles things around a bit. There’s a single light bulb on the wall with a dangling metal cord, it clicks on when he tugs it gently. Its still dim, but there’s enough light that he can look at the picture.
Haruno has seen the picture before a few times, some nights when his mother has been out drinking she is amiable enough to answer his questions about his father, but even then it soon becomes apparent that beyond this picture and a few drunken stories she really doesn't know anything at all.
He slips the picture out of the frame and holds it gently. He studies it over again and again in his mind, he knows deep down he won’t find anything new in it. Its just a simple head shot, a blonde man coldly staring off into the distance, a star shaped mark distinguishing him on his shoulder. But Haruno still looks for anything, any clue or hint about the man in the picture. There’s a name scrawled across the top of the picture, his mother told him once that she wrote it down a long time ago and what it says,
“DIO BRANDO”
Haruno traces the name with his finger and repeats it silently in his mind, he is certain though that he would never forget his fathers name.
He isn't sure how long he’s been sitting there staring at his father, memorizing his features but its long enough that the closet is starting to get a bit stuffy and warm, and he can’t help yawing. It’s a little stiff and awkward, but it wouldn’t be the first time he’s fallen asleep here.
As he begins to doze off, Haruno curls into himself, picture tucked under his arms.
~
He blinks his eyes open a few times, its bright wherever he is and he senses that this is unreal, he must be dreaming as he’s never been in a house this large or grand looking. The floors are checkered and a large strip of red carpet runs beneath him and up a staircase. He walks forward slowly, there’s a large statue next to the stairway, it makes him feel very small suddenly.
At the same time, he feels something he can’t describe, he feels almost like he’s meant to be here, that he should know this place or maybe, that he was suppose to know this place. But he doesn’t, all he knows is that this isn’t anywhere in Japan or Italy. That same familiar feeling urges him to walk up the stairs further into the house.
It empty, and maybe to anyone else that would be eerie, but Haruno likes the silence, its calming. It invites him to explore.
Upstairs the hall is furnished nicely and the walls are covered in a decorative purple wall paper. There are several heavy wooden doors along the way. Haruno heaves some open just to peek, but the rooms are dark and empty. He thinks perhaps he is suppose to find something.
There is another door at the end of the hall. He hasn’t opened this one yet, he pulls it open. It appears to be a study, there’s a whole library worth of books, they all look expensive and old and Haruno is sure he’s never read any of them before in his life.
Its then that he spots the desk, its much like the doors in the house, large and made of wood. Its ornate and Haruno thinks its much too big for someone as small as him. But its whats on the desk that intrigues him,
There’s a mask laying on the desk. Or at least Haruno thinks its a mask. He leans over closer to get a better look.
It’s made of stone and appears to very old, and it looks like a face. The forehead bulges out in the middle and curves into a spiral on one side, the nose is human like and so is the mouth, except for two pointed teeth sticking out noticeably. Haruno finally starts to feel his nerves. Half of him wants to pick it up and the other half thinks he should retreat back downstairs and try to wake up.
His curiosity gets the better of him in the end, after all nothing else in this house has stood out to him like this, and a dream is only a dream, he reminds himself, nothing here is real.
Very gently he slides his hand under the back and picks it up.
Nothing happens, and he lets out a breath. He turns it over a few times in his hands, finally satisfied he places it back down on the desk.
As Haruno slowly leaves the study, he realizes that he doesn’t feel very calm in the house anymore, he doesn’t understand the sudden shift in the atmosphere until he reopens the door.
Of course all throughout school he’s been taught about fire danger, things like how to stop and roll to extinguish it, not to hide from firemen or to touch doors first to see if they’re hot before opening them. None of that has prepared Haruno for opening the study door only to find the house very suddenly and violently ablaze.
Haruno stumbles back into the study, the door slamming closed behind him. He expects to be hit by overwhelming heat, and throws his hands up to protect his face…but he feels nothing.
He stands there dumbfounded for a few moments before reaching out to touch the door. He feels the wood under his hand, but theres no warmth to it. Had he just imagined that?
He reopens the door.
The pretty wall paper from before has darkened now, peeling and burning off the wall, there’s thick dark smoke filling the air and the railings lining the hall are almost burnt away, they crumble off falling back to the first floor.
He expects his eyes and nose to start stinging, or for his lungs to start to ache as he takes a breath but again he doesn’t feel anything from the fire. So instead he starts his walk back down to the center of the house. Haruno thinks it must be because its just a dream, or he supposes its a nightmare now, still he tries to walk calmly instead of running. Maybe as long as he doesn’t panic the fire won’t hurt him.
The wallpaper is gone now, the walls are just black, fueling the flames that crawl up the wall all the way to the ceiling. A chandelier snaps from where its hung and crashes down behind him. He jumps with a start, nothing has hurt you so far, he reminds himself, but he can’t help but run the rest of the way down the stairs, previous composure forgotten.
He reaches the front door, and pulls, he should leave. He should wake up. Why hasn’t he woken up? He wants to wake up, he never wants anything to do with this house ever again but the door won’t budge, and he finds himself banging loudly on the door with his fists, yelling-
“Haruno!”
Haruno snaps awake,
“Haruno!! You’re blocking the door! Haruno! I know you’re in there!”
His mother is knocking loudly on the closet door,
He sits up shaken, taking account of where he really is. He’s still in the closet. He fell asleep. That was all just a dream. He knew that it was all just a dream. He breathes in calmly, he still has his fathers photograph clutched in his hand.
“Haruno,”
His mothers voice is icy and snaps him from his thoughts, she couldn’t know that he took the picture could she? He had been sure she hadn’t seen him enter her room,
“If you don’t get out of the way by the time I count to thre-”
He opens the door, he can’t help but flinch as she pushes past him,
“God, I don’t know why you like sitting in there,”
He exhales, she doesn’t know about the picture. He slides from the doorway to standing in the hall, and slips the picture under his shirt. Her makeup is done, and she’s putting on her coat, a pair of heels in her hand,
“Mommy’s going out, ok?”
He nods. She glances down at him,
“There’s food in the fridge. Tell your father that I went out, ok?”
He nods again, that’s his cue to leave, he heads to his room. He’d normally feel on edge when the potential of being left at home alone with his stepfather exists, but he has the picture. He has the picture of his real father, and all he feels is content.