Thanksgiving Day
A private jet landed at Clark Airport, Lewistown early Thanksgiving evening, and three passengers exited the plane. The first a warmly dressed Eskimo-dressed Japanese man, followed by a young blonde girl in snow gear and, finally, by a tall hooded man. The trio climbed into a waiting car, the first man taking the driver's seat while the other two climbed in back, the remaining man's head still covered by a black hood, his hands and feet bound as well. It wouldn't do if their host's gift was to run off.
Kyouko set the third pot of stuffing on the huge dining table, before scurrying into the kitchen to bring out another plate of asparagus. She'd been invited to Winnett, Montana to have Thanksgiving with her adoptive parents and her Okaa-san's little brother's family, and without a second thought she accepted. The frosty chill that had hit her the Monday morning her flight landed at Clark Airport had came as a bit of surprise, but after shrugging into her new cousins' extra winter clothes, Kyouko found herself nice and toasty warm.
Kyouko, her Otou-san, Kim—Okaa-san's sister-in-law—, Hannah—Kim's eldest—, James—Hannah's father—, Macy—James' youngest—, and Okaa-san helped set the giant plate of three turkeys unto the table set for ten, and all of them breathed a sigh of relief that they made it without incident. All that was left to start the feast were the last four diners: James' only son, Owen, and three other mystery guests. Okaa-san and Otou-san had refused to tell Kyouko who else was coming.
Hearing the door open and a loud bellow of "Where's the food," James and Kim exchanged glances. Their middle child, and only son, was home from college. God help them. They weren't worried about him being rude to the guests. The couple was worried that he'd start hitting on his honorary cousin. She was Kuon's whether Owen wanted her or not. So maybe it wasn't a definite claim, but it was pretty obvious from the interactions Julie and Kuu had told them about, even more so with how the beautiful young actress talked about her senpai. It was ironic that the two were so dense, so much in love, and still nursing old, festering wounds. Adding their Casanova son to the mix was just begging for trouble. Especially since good ol' Owen loved a challenge.
The tall blonde college sophomore dropped his bags in his old bedroom and came into the kitchen expecting all the usually people: Aunt Julie, Uncle Kuu, Hannah the mean, Macy the irritating, his loving parents, maybe cousin Kuon and the ever eccentric Lory Takarada. He'd stopped asking about the last one when he was five. (Those conversations usually left him mentally scarred.) But nothing prepared him for the young, pretty brunette carving the turkeys with Uncle Kuu's help.
Right then Owen would've bet all of his family's lives that the brunette wasn't actually a part of the family, but something like Takarada: someone who had gotten absorbed into the Swan and Hizuri family circle.
Oh ho, Christmas came early!
Uh-oh. Macy knew that look. Her older brother had found a new target, and the only available attractive female in the house, who he wasn't yet related to, was Kyouko. Oh, Lords, there was going to be a brawl when Kuon got here. She just hoped they took it out side. Last time those two fought they got blood in the carpet and Macy had to scrub it out. Not fun by the way.
Totally oblivious, Kyouko greeted the new brown-eyed addition with her usually warmth and polite manners. Owen returned the greeting and introduced himself. "Now may I ask how someone as pretty as you ended up in this frozen over place?"
He watched, in amazement, as the amber eyed girl waved off the compliment. "You extravagate, just like your parents. Kuu and Julie invited me since they consider me their daughter and wanted to share me with the rest of the family."
"Yeah?" the blonde playboy asked, moving his chair a little closer to hers as everyone else started dishing up.
The brunette edged her chair in response and extended the silence between the two as she asked Okaa-san to pause the stuffing, but the diversion only lasted so long and the increasingly irritating man tried to reengage in conversation.
"So what do you do for a living, Kyouko? Or are you still in school?"
"I'm attending a special high school for entertainers while working as an actress at LME."
"LME, that's Uncle Kuu's old company right?"
The young woman smiled patiently, murmuring an agreement and hoping the less than bright college student would start stuffing his mouth with food so he would stop interrupting her conversation with his father about stage acting, which the president had been insisting she try. Owen had once again tried to capture her attention when the back door opened and a hooded figure was thrown in, followed by "We brought gifts!" everyone winced, aside from the oddball president of LME and perhaps the hooded man. Taking pity on the poor man lying face down on the carpet bound by rope, Kyouko sat him up and removed his hood. You can imagine her horror to find none other than her senpai, Tsuruga Ren, underneath the black canvas sack, looking a little worse for wear with a slightly purplish left jaw and eye.
Ren squinted, not having seen light in more than a good twelve hours (what the hell had that bag been made of?). He'd been dragged into an unmarked SUV, blindfolded, then bound and finally loaded onto a plane. He sure as hell didn't think he'd end up in his aunt's and uncle's dining room with Kyouko worriedly fusing over his injuries…Whoa. Back up. Kyouko was in the-middle-of-nowhere, Montana with Uncle James' family? If Owen had so much as touched a hair on her head…
Stewing silently, Owen did his best not to pout. But it wasn't far! Kuon always got the good ones first, and he didn't like to share until he was done with them. Judging by the uncontained fury in his older cousin's eyes, Owen didn't think he'd be getting a turn soon, if ever. Damn it. Maybe he should have gone into acting instead of medicine.
Seeing Kuon raising from the floor, despite Kyouko's protests, Owen figured he should have made a run for it. He just didn't think the man had gotten that fast. He had a good fifteen second head start, and the long-legged bastard caught up with him before he made it half way to the tree line, a mere twenty feet from the front steps. That running tackle had hurt too, even with the soft snow. What had the actor been doing the last six years? Weight training? The body mass certainly felt right as he was flattened into a human pancake. Owen wasn't sure he remembered who had gotten the big lug off him.
Julie had seen it coming the instant Lory had informed her and Kuu that Kuon would be attending this Thanksgiving celebration, whether he liked it or not. But, by God, that boy must've grown another foot of leg and doubled his leg muscles to catch up with her cute little nephew that quickly. Owen had been the ace of his high school track team for long distance and sprints; he'd carried his team to Nationals and won during his four years of high school.
She grabbed one black arm while Kyouko grabbed the other as Kim stood by to haul her son away from the unforgiving weight of Julie's boy. They pulled and managed to get the actor up and hold him back, while Kim got her own son up and back a good five feet.
"Owen, speak to me, honey," she kept muttering, trying to see just how bad it was this time. He'd gotten off with just a broken jaw last time, but men in love tended to be a bit crazed when it concerned their girl.
"Ma, can you please explain to that thousand pound sack of shit I didn't do a damn thing!" he shouted, sitting up.
Kyouko's amber eyes flared at the older boy's words and she released Tsuruga-san's arm, one intention in mind. Winding up her arm, Kyouko socked Owen right under his left jaw with a pushing right hook, a hundred vengeful spirits add their strength to hers.
His eyes rolled for a moment before he passed out, and Kyouko turned haughtily, walking back to ensure Tsuruga-san got back inside the house before going after Owen again. No one insulted her senpai and got away with it.