Favours

by Laly Konstantin

Disclaimer: I'm not making any money or claiming I own the Kiryuu family. You can't accuse me of anything! ha.

Author's note: This takes place sometime in the 'Her Tragedy/Romance of the Dancing Girls' arc. I just imagine Nanami trying to call home, and realising she couldn't get any help from the rest of her family by saying they'd lied to her...
I've wanted to do something about the Kiryuu family for a while. maybe this isn't as in-depth as I'd like, but it had to get out of my head. -Laly

------Favours----------
Early-morning phone calls. The most difficult information always strikes me in those hours, when Masayuki has already left for the train and I imagine, for a moment, that the kitten I had as a child is about to come meowing for its breakfast.

I can't help being more tired now. It takes me longer to force myself out of bed, to bring myself to face the empty house and the switching-off of security systems.

This morning, even though I heard my daughter's voice first thing and could almost pretend I had her back, I couldn't make her talk to me. I know teenage daughters don't open up easily, more from what my friends have told me than from any personal experience. I mean, my case is hardly typical - I let her go so young, to go to boarding school, and I was never very close to her.

I never let myself get close to her. She was a duty, really, and because of that I resented her.

Still, with those memories of me, I wonder why she called this morning? Her voice was... empty, hauntingly young, but cold. Cold like me, like this house, and I worry about what's making her sound so abandoned. But she wouldn't tell me.

//'Okaasan?'

'Hmm?' A silence. 'Nanami, what is it?' She breathes, but says nothing. 'Nanami?'

'...It's nothing. Betsu ni. I just wanted to call and see how you are.' She laughs, the most painful forced laugh. Still a beautiful sound.

'I love you,' she hastens to add, as though she's afraid someone will hit her for saying it. I wince, so stunned that I can't answer before she hangs up again.//

Strange. I'm not even her mother, but I must have the instincts anyway. I know she wanted to ask to come home. But then, what happened to change her mind?

If nothing else, Nanami should know she can ask for anything from us.
------------------
The last early call came over a decade ago, on a beautiful spring morning.

'Yuka!' the man cried. 'Is Masayuki there?'

I recognised the voice, but as with most of my husband's associates, I couldn't match a name to the voice. 'He's left,' I mumbled. 'What's going on?'

'Masayuki owes me a favour,' he answered, in a panicked voice that woke me up completely. 'I need to run, and I need to leave my kids with you.'

I relaxed, knowing that the 'favours' my husband owed could have been matched in much darker ways. Not that he'd ever been caught or imprisoned because of his work, but the chance was always there. 'How long?'

'I wish I knew. Yuka, I'm dropping them off right now. Will you watch them?'

I shook my head. 'Okay, do it, but will you call Masayuki too?'

'Sure thing. Bye.'

I slowly emerged from the half-dream state he'd caught me in, and stared at the phone in my hand. I slammed it down - God, I had a temper back then.

'What the hell am I doing?!'
-----------------
The doorbell rang no more than an hour later, and I had been waiting in the front room for some time. I expected to see whatever-his-name-was, at least, and let him know he had better return soon; but no such luck.

Instead, I had to face two of the most disturbingly beautiful children I'd ever seen.

'Hajimemashite,' said the elder, a four-year-old boy with shockingly red hair and mature manners. In his arms, he cradled an infant, who smiled up at him adoringly though she never opened her eyes.

'Come in,' I told them, confused at how it felt to have my temper flaring and my heart melting at the same time. 'I'm Kiryuu Yuka. You know you'll be staying with me?'

The boy nodded. 'I'm Touga, and this is my little sister, Nanami.'

Funny. He didn't tell me his last name that day, and I still haven't learned it.
----------------------
Masayuki was quite furious when he appeared a few hours later. 'What kind of favour is this?' he stormed. 'Watching his damn kids?'

'Quiet!' I retorted. 'You want them to hear? Who is their father, anyway?'

Masayuki froze where he stood, and sent me a suspicious look. 'Yuka, I told you never to ask about my associates.'

I snapped, then. 'What am I supposed to tell his kids, then? Or should I just pretend they're mine, in case he turns out as unreliable as the rest of your "colleagues" and decides never to come back for them? I know you're not ready for kids. I'm not either. This is where your deals get us.' I turned away, and of course he didn't come over or try to placate me.

'Yuka,' he finally said, ' I'm going to go talk to them. I suggest we talk about this later?'

Bitterly, I nodded, and I think at that moment I resigned myself to being a mother.
It really wasn't fair, though. Most women had months to get used to the idea.
------------
I know that I wasn't a perfect mother. Not even close. I didn't know how to deal with children - I was an only child, and after I married Masayuki, my life was built around keeping my husband and myself in the upper social stratum. So the children, when they arrived, had to fit into that.

I can't say I regret that. And it's not like I ever told them, 'You're not my real children, don't bother me.' Believe me, I came incredibly close a few times.

Still, I've felt a bit guilty ever since they left. My 'son,' with his disturbingly strong self-reliance and intellect, had been recruited by a prestigious academy in Hou'ou; and Nanami, clever in her own way, had talked herself into acceptance in the elementary school. For better or for worse, I thought, those two will always have each other. At least they don't need me.

I certainly never expected to miss them, but... well, I don't expect them to miss me either.

So why would Nanami call me? And why, when she hung up with a voice full of tears, did I feel like crying myself?
---owari-----


(AN: Yes, I used the first names of their seiyuu for the parents. So I'm bad with names... that's why i like fanfic.)