The sun was shining bright in the sky as small flakes of snow drifted down. A small breeze blew through the trees pulling free a few leaves and making them drift past a red haired teen. The teen had a small smile on his face and the collar of his thick white coat pulled up, shielding his face.
He had been trying to think of a way to confront his boyfriend of two years all morning; something had been playing on his mind since the previous night. It had troubled him for a long while, and confused him greatly. Why hadn't he met his parents?
He had introduced the blue haired teen to his own after a year, but never had the younger boy once even mentioned them. He had tried to come up with possible answers to his question all night, but he never found a plausible reason for them not to have been spoken of. Why hadn't he mentioned them but once in their hours spent talking over the phone at night, or when they had gone out for meals together. Didn't he love him enough? Did he not trust him? Wasn't he good enough to meet them?
He couldn't keep questioning himself as he had reached the block of flats where the bluenette lived. Pressing the button to release the door he entered. His visit was unannounced to the bluenette. The ice blue eyed boy not wanting to give him any time, time to think up a lie about why he wasn't good enough to meet the people who raised him. The redhead couldn't help feeling slightly angry that he was inadequate.
He had introduced him to his whole family, parents, older brothers, aunts, uncles, everyone and he wasn't even good enough to hear even one word on his parents.
He wasted no time and ran up the three sets of stairs that led to the bluenette's room. Countless thoughts swarmed around in his mind. Would he answer? What might he say if he did? What if they broke up because of this? Did the answer really mean so much as to risk their relationship? He knew the answer to the last, yes it did, it did mean so much for him to risk his relationship. He had to know. The lack of knowledge left him feeling meagre, like he wasn't good enough to know his family.
0000
As he reached the room his boyfriend resided he knocked twice on the door. He didn't know why but he placed a hand over the small peephole on the door. It wasn't like the bluenette would not open the door should he see the redhead. It would probably prompt him to open it; the boy wasn't one for unexpected company. He wasn't one for company at all.
A few seconds passed before the door was pulled open a scowling bluenette on the other side. The scowl had been perfected over the years, used to keep people at arms-length. Only one person had ever been allowed to see what was beneath that scowl. And even he didn't truly know the bluenette. The scowl lifted from the boy's face being replaced with a small smile.
"Tala, what are you doing here?" The bluenette asked stepping back from the doorway to allow the older one in.
"I need to talk to you" he answered simply stepping inside and looking into the younger's crimson eyes.
"Alright, you sound serious, is everything alright?" He asked closing the door behind the redhead who started to unzip his coat. The bluenette always had the flat scolding hot; heat never seemed to get to him. Tala always wondered how he could pay the heating bills.
"Yea, I guess, I do have to ask you something. And I want the truth." He kept his voice in a low monotone looking him dead in the eye.
"Alright, what's wrong?" He moved over to the table that was set just outside the kitchen, pulling out one of the two chairs that were set around it.
"Kai, why haven't I met your parents?" He asked coming over and dropping down on the spare chair, he kept his eyes locked onto the bluenette's, who sighed heavily and rested onto a hand.
"Tala..." he stopped sighing once more.
"Kai" he responded folding his arms across his chest narrowing his eyes slightly. The bluenette slumped slightly before pushing himself back upright.
"Tala, do you actually have to know? Can't you just accept that I don't want you to meet them?" He asked looking his boyfriend in the eye.
"Am I not good enough?" The blue eyed boy asked, lowering his eyes to the table and bowing his head slightly.
"What?" Kai asked, bemused as to why the boy would think that.
"Am I not good enough? Am I not good enough to meet your parents?" He asked again, sadness coating his usually emotionless voice.
"Why would you think that?" He asked, moving his chair around to sit closer to the redhead.
"I introduced you to mine; you've had dinner over at my house countless times. How come I never met yours?"
"It's complicated" he tried to explain, not knowing what to say, he had no excuse ready.
"Then un-complicate it" Tala answered lifting his eyes and glaring at him slightly. Not his usual glare but one that portrayed how hurt he was by his actions.
"Tala, I don't want you to think you're not good enough, you are it's just that..." he trailed off; he didn't know what to say. He had always made it a point to never be lost for words. And now here he was unable to answer a simple question. Maybe he should just tell him the truth.
"Just what Kai, why aren't I good enough?" Tala asked, his eyes not wavering from the bluenette.
"Cos they're dead" he finally answered after almost a minute of silence. "They're dead Tala; they died when I was three. Happy now, are you happy now you know why you haven't met them? It's because they died."
He didn't know how to respond, his eyes were fixed onto the bluenette's now lowered head. He hadn't thought of that, that possibility never once crossed his mind. He had always assumed it was because of him, he never thought they had died.
"Kai, I'm so sorry, I-I didn't think that..." he couldn't continue, he stared at the bluenette cursing himself for bringing hurt back to him.
"It's alright, and you're good enough, if they were alive I'd take you to them." Kai answered, offering the red haired boy a small smile.
"You can," Tala answered his voice quiet, he wasn't sure if he should ask, he continued when Kai raised an eyebrow "you could take me to where they're buried." He had half expected Kai to be mad, to glare at him and throw him out for asking that. These were his parents; he had no right to ask so forwardly especially after accusing him of thinking he wasn't good enough to meet them.
Instead Kai pushed back from the table and held his hand out to the redhead.
"Alright, come on" he took his hand and led him towards the door grabbing both Tala's coat, which had been thrown onto the arm of the couch, and his own before leaving the room.
0000
They walked out the building together, neither talking, Tala wasn't sure what to say. He had been wrong, Kai didn't think he wasn't good enough but why didn't he tell him that his parents were dead? It's not like Tala wouldn't understand, it's not like Tala wouldn't try to comfort him. He didn't know when they had died but he guessed it must have been a while ago; before they met.
"When did they die?" Tala asked, looking across at the slightly younger boy.
"Long ago, I can barely remember them. I was about three." He answered, not looking at his boyfriend.
"How'd they die?" Tala leant lightly into him making Kai wrap a hand around his shoulder. He guessed that they hadn't died naturally; unless they were ill there was no reason for them to have died.
"They were killed, we were out one night and this guy shot them. The worst part was that I knew the guy, that guy became my legal guardian after their funeral" Tala looked into the boy's eyes.
"What? Why the hell did he become your guardian, surely the police would have arrested him." The bluenette shook his head.
"No, not for a while actually, they didn't know he killed them till much later on. He had threatened me after their death, told me if I said even one word about who killed them he'd kill me. So I kept quiet."
"You were scared of him." Tala whispered.
"Yea, I was, it couldn't have been more than an hour after their death when he had said that, their blood was still painted on my hands from where I had tried to stop the bleeding. He didn't care about them, he didn't care about me. He just wanted something he could use."
"You kept quiet after he threatened you."
"Of course, I told the police that I didn't see the man who killed them, that as soon as the bullets rang from the gun I ran away and hid. I told them I saw nothing, I didn't tell them that I looked him in the eye. That I had been so scared my hand had locked onto my parents and had almost been pulled to the ground with their dead bodies." Kai stopped talking, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand.
"Kai, I'm sorry." Tala apologised, pained himself to see the hurt shinning in his crimson eyes. The crimson eyed teen glanced over at his boyfriend.
"It's alright Tal, I should have told you a long time ago. After I met yours but I guess it just became easier to pretend you couldn't meet them than to admit to you that they were dead." He admitted as he pulled him closer resting his head against the redhead's shoulder.
"No, it's not; I should have just waited for you to feel you could tell me. I shouldn't have pushed you" both were feeling guilt for the other, any other time and they'd have found it funny but this was something serious. He was about to meet Kai's parents. Not properly, not how he'd have wanted to meet them but he was meeting them none the less. Tala kept his eyes down on the floor thinking something through. "Kai" he started, something didn't seem right. A small sound of recognition made him continue. "Who killed them?"
The bluenette paused making the boy in his arms freeze too. He let out a sigh, almost like he was hoping this wouldn't come out.
"The man who killed them was my...grandfather." Icy blue eyes widened and stared at the face of his boyfriend.
"W-what, h-he killed them?" Tala asked stuttering from lack of ability to comprehend. He had never met the teen's grandfather, only having heard a few words coming from the bluenette as he slept. And those times were during nightmares. Nightmares he wasn't allowed to know about.
"Yea, he did. He shot them in cold blood" the redhead stared into his eyes. He didn't know what to say. How could a man be so cruel and heartless as to kill his own son and daughter-in-law in front of his own grandson? And to then threaten his grandchild. It just didn't seem possible to the redhead. It seemed too evil.
"Kai" he started but trailed off, nothing he could say would make a difference.
"Don't worry about it." Kai answered taking his eyes off the boy in his arms for a second to look forwards. "We're here." He answered simply making Tala move to see where they were. They had reached a cemetery, the gates were open slightly and the hinges were rusted so badly it seemed that they were incapable of being moved. He swallowed before they entered, he wasn't going to face them but he was still unbelievably nervous.
He wondered slightly if Kai had been this nervous when meeting his parents. If so then he felt bad for the bluenette.
Kai led him into the cemetery and guided him through the graves. They were covered with cobwebs and most were cracked. It looked like a place where ones great grandparents would be buried, not people who were killed just over a decade ago were placed. Seeming to have picked up on what he was thinking Kai answered him.
"I know it looks run down. This place was supposed to have been too full to place anyone in about fifty years ago. But the old man has connections and he managed to get them placed in here. It wasn't as though he did this for them, some gesture from a grieving father to son. More like a show of disrespect. It was something to show them that they weren't good enough to be placed anywhere better than here." Kai answered as he led the boy to the back of the cemetery, he looked slightly nervous, it was almost like meeting his parents had they been alive.
"Don't worry Kai, there's nothing that could happen." He assured his boyfriend hugging him closer as they neared the back of the cemetery where two graves were placed, slightly higher up than the others and in a mildly better condition.
"Here they are." He answered simply, gesturing towards the headstones. Tala stared at the headstones reading the names that were carved into them. 'Susumu' 'Violet'
"There aren't any last names." The redhead noted, also confused by the lack of inscription underneath.
"He disowned them; he didn't think they were good enough to carry the Hiwatari name." He answered his eyes lowered to the ground; tears were swimming just above his lids threatening to spill.
"Kai, I'm so sorry" he apologised; placing a hand on his cheek and making him look into his icy eyes.
"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault" Kai answered kissing the redheads forehead softly before turning back to the graves. "Are you happy you've met them?" He asked smiling ever so slightly.
"Yea, you can tell they're your parents, they don't talk all that much" he joked softly trying to gain a small laugh from the bluenette. His efforts were rewarded as Kai gave a soft chuckle.
"I'm glad you can see the resemblance." The blue haired boy joked back.
The two didn't talk after that, just standing and staring at the graves. In their minds they were both having conversations with the two deceased Hiwatari's. Tala constantly telling them how amazing there son was and how proud they should be, Kai telling them everything he could about Tala and explaining how they met.
0000
They didn't know how long they had been stood there other than the sun had set long ago. But they didn't want to move, they wanted to stay, Kai to be with his parents and Tala so he could relish in the time with the two Hiwatari's, even if it wasn't face-to-face.
Soon though they had to leave, the wind was picking up and they had to leave back to Kai's flat.
"Come on, we can come back tomorrow if you want." Kai told him taking the redhead's hand and turning to leave the cemetery. Tala didn't respond only leaning into the bluenette slightly.
As they walked from the graves Tala couldn't help but ask.
"Do you think they like me?" Kai looked down at him smirking; he leaned down and kissed him softly before pulling back and answering.
"I'm sure they do." The smile on the redhead's face widened and he hugged Kai closer to him.
Tala couldn't have been happier at that moment. Kai didn't think he wasn't good enough to meet his parents; he wasn't keeping them apart because he didn't love him enough. He did it because he didn't know how to tell him they were dead. Tala understood that, he understood completely. And the best part was that they were coming back tomorrow, and although he couldn't find out embarrassing stories from when Kai was a child from them, he could tell them all the embarrassing things he had done since they had met.
I know it probably wasn't very good but this was my first attempt at a Kai and Tala romance so please be nice. I'd like to know what to do to improve so it'd be nice if you could tell me. Thanks for reading and please review.