Last Name

Chapter 8.

The ride back to Haku's farmhouse was quiet. After being shown the picture of Alisa, Kuroo had gotten complacent again and wracked at his thoughts on how Haku knew so much about him and Nori. He hoped Nori had gotten more time to think things through because at this rate, Kuroo was at a complete loss at how they would get out of this situation. The only things Kuroo understood until this point were that Haku was dangerous, he had killed his wife, he wanted his kid, and he somehow thought Nori would be the way to find him. After having watched Haku go through the file they just picked up, Kuroo realized Nori probably was the only link to his kid. Kuroo had intently listened as Haku read sentences out loud, attempting to make sense of the legal jargon that filled the file. Even Kuroo struggled to understand some of the things stated, but the things he did understand were the notes Nori had penciled in. The more Haku went over the file, the more Kuroo understood what type of person he was and couldn't fathom how Nori dealt with these type of people on a regular basis.

From what Kuroo could remember from observing the trial when it was first taking place and from listening to Haku's current read through, Yue Hoshi had made three ER visits in the last two months leading up to the trial. Though the history of the violent behavior Haku Hoshi displayed towards her spread across numerous years, the case mainly revolved around these three incidents as they provided the most concrete evidence. The first involved a broken arm that was originally stated to have occurred by tripping down the stairs. The second, a bleeding cut on the head that required stitches. The third, severe internal bleeding along with several bruises at various stages of healing. The first two times, she had been brought in by Haku. The third time, she had managed to escape after Haku had passed out from drinking too much. During her second ER visit, the doctor had secretly given her the number to a women's shelter--the very one Nori volunteered at. After contacting them and arriving there, it had been Nori who had taken Yue to the hospital. In the notes it said both, Yue and her child, almost died during the emergency C-section, requiring the baby to be born an entire two months early. Other than that, all and any information regarding the child was redacted from the file. Not even a name was mentioned anywhere. This was probably done so for the child's safety. Kuroo explicitly remembered Nori had stated during the trial that Haku was a threat to his wife and his child, and she had therefore pushed for charges of first degree assault, especially after the condition they had both been left in after that third ER visit. Of course most of the legal terminology had gone far above Kuroo and Kenma's heads as they watched Nori take on her first case, but it had been very clear to the both of them that Haku was an awful man who could be considered a threat to even his own child. The trial had not become anything high profile, but Kuroo remembered even Mr. Sugiyama had been worried that Nori had taken on such an intense case as her first, especially after how personally connected she had become to Yue through the shelter. However, she had proved she could handle it by winning and giving Haku the maximum ten year sentence along with no contact of any kind with his child even after he was released because that was in the child's best interests.

Overall, the file gave Haku absolutely zero information, and if Nori already knew that, Kuroo wasn't sure what her plan was now. Once back at the farmhouse, Haku had shoved Kuroo out of the car before forcing him to walk back towards the shed at gunpoint. Once the door had been opened and Kuroo had been pushed in, his eyes widened as they found Nori's lifeless body laying exactly where he had covered her in his bloodied clothes almost about two hours ago. She didn't even appear to have shifted. Kuroo hadn't realized he had become frozen in his spot until Haku cursed behind him.

"She's not dead, is she?"

The sentence knocked Kuroo back to reality as he rushed forward and turned Nori over into his arms so he could properly see her face. Her skin was as cold as ice. Her lips were slightly tinged blue, she was letting out rapid, shallow breaths, and her heart was pounding uncontrollably.