Hidden Heart (Beauty and the Beast AU)

Surcease of Sorrow

All they could do was wait. Kazuma and Yujin were in the corridor outside Barok's room. Kazuma paced and Susato could just catch the notes of Yujin's voice as they spoke with one another. Tusspells had taken her leave shortly after her explanation, able to walk out freely now that the curses had been dissolved and the truth made known. Iris, Sholmes, Ryunosuke, and Susato all remained together near Barok's bed side. Iris cried and longed to stay close to the uncle she had never had the chance to really meet. She said she was trying to remember something she could not—the times he had held her as an infant, something no child could possibly recall. And Klint was on the balcony, silent and hunched.

"When he wakes...you can tell him what really happened. So he knows he really is completely innocent of the deaths from ten years ago," Ryunosuke said.

"Thank you, Mr. Naruhodo," Susato mumbled dejectedly. She was not so sure Barok would wake, even though she longed for his recovery more than anything.

"So, um...Mr. Sholmes was the one who found Tusspells," Ryunosuke said.

"Really, Mr. Sholmes?" Susato said.

"Yes, dear madam, quite so. Ten years ago, I knew something was amiss. I detected most artfully that things were entirely illogical. How could the lord of the manor possibly have forgotten the place where said manor dwelt? How could dear Mikotoba have also forgotten its location? That in itself was enough to strike me. And the Beast Klint van Zieks described was incomparable to anything I had ever witnessed. Something so grotesque is not a part of nature, now is it?" Sholmes said.

"R-Right," Ryunosuke said.

"I suspected the work of an enchantress, so I did all I could to uncover the truth. A difficult task when raising a child, considering my dear ward already had one absentee father. I would not also abandon her at great lengths. Thus, my search was slow and required the aid of a friend of mine, Tobias Gregson," Sholmes said.

"Gina's boss!" Susato said.

"Quite so. It has been a long decade, but at last I understand the truth in its entirety. As do we all. And, hopefully, tragedy has been forestalled. Although it does appear woefully dubious," Sholmes said, frowning towards Barok.

Iris sniffled and held Sholmes's hand tight. He knelt down and pulled her into a fierce hug. Susato's heart lurched, floundered in the water. She averted her face.

Kazuma appeared in the doorway. "Susato-chan...we need to talk."

Susato glanced at Barok, hesitated.

"We can speak here, that's alright," Kazuma said. "Besides...I owe this apology to Ryunosuke, too. And to Iris. I've hurt you all in my search for revenge. My emotions are hard to control. There's been this rage inside of me ever since I lost my father."

"Kazuma, it's...well, we could see you were consumed. We should have done more to help you," Ryunosuke said.

"I wouldn't let anyone help me. Although, it's obvious you tried," Kazuma said. Then he looked at Susato, and his expression grew entirely sullen. "I've hurt you most of all, Susato-chan. I've hurt you many times, I know. And now...thanks to me, an innocent man is dying. All because I was too blind to believe in you. If I had just listened, we could have prevented all this."

"Kazuma-sama..." Susato's chest folded around her heart, tight and painful, and swollen with the bruise of love. Love for her family and cherished companions, who were suffering so much. Who had been suffering for so long.