Okay! I am back and read to rumble. Hold on… daisy has something.
Never mind. It's the fluffy book that she's not supposed to have. But I am in no mood to get it from her. I am actually in no mood to do anything.
I don't actually know what I am doing this for… Right now I am supposed to be packing for my trip. I'm sure by the time you read this I'll be back, but right now I am supposed to be packing. Only I just unpacked, so I am in no mood to repack. Such is my life.
Anyway, here is the next OC:
Rei Kuno: She is very short and has short, jet black hair that is always in her eyes. She likes to tease Kyo and was one of his best friends in school. Her father owns the grocery store and local gas station that the Sohma's always shop at. Rei is now taking care of the store and taking classes at the community college.
Oo0oO
Kyo threw his briefcase over his shoulder after piling his mountain load of homework into it. He wasn't exactly sure why he had gotten the homework or if he would have time to finish it, but he would try.
He nodded at his instructor, a large beefy man with a large mustache and beard and a bald head, as he walked out the door. That day's lesson had been a review for a test that they were going to take. As Kyo thought back on it, he seemed to be reliving his High School life, although there was much more homework.
Kyo, who had wanted the chance to talk to his instructor, stopped before he reached the door, where the man was standing. The man looked confused for a minute, as if he was wondering why this boy was standing in front of him, but then he smiled a reassuring smile. Although Kyo wasn't sure who he was reassuring. It seemed that his instructor, an ex-cop had taken one too many blows to the head in his glory days and was left bumbling and smiling. That, Kyo thought, was probably the reason he was given the job of instructor.
"Um, Sensei?" Kyo asked. "There's something I want to talk to you about."
"Oh?" The teacher answered and Kyo could almost see the question marks coming off of his head like in all the manga that he had read. "Why don't you take a seat and ask me while I grade these papers."
"Okay."
Kyo grabbed a chair out from under the desk nearest to him and swing his leg over it, sitting on it backwards, his hands holding on to the back of the chair. The shorter man scooted in beneath is desk and, with out delay, began grading the stacks of paper that littered his desk. There were a fair few and Kyo was glad that he had not picked the teacher route of life. Although, he supposed, neither had the man that had become his teacher.
He thought for a minute, collecting his thoughts. He kept his eye on the analog clock watching the seconds tick away knowing that he was wasting his homework-doing-time asking his teacher for advice. This was something he wouldn't have done when he was younger. And in fact it had surprised him a bit when the initial thought crept into his mind. The younger Kyo would have just barged into anything, more like Shigure than he wanted to admit. But now, a more experienced and scared Kyo, he took things more cautiously.
"Um, Sensei?" He began slowly. He didn't know why he was being so slow to ask. It wasn't all that big of a deal. He was just not used to asking people for advice.
"Hum?" The teacher replied absentmindedly, stapling two sheets of paper together with precision that only a teacher possessed, and perhaps secretaries.
"Well… I would like some advice. See, a department contacted me and asked me I would like to volunteer with them for a while."
"What 'department' would this be?" Staple, stack, scribble, repeat.
"Um, the local police force." Kyo wrinkled his nose, trying to hold back a sneeze.
"Well…" Staple, stack, scribble, repeat. "Since you are training to be a police officer, I think that it would be a good opportunity for you. Why would you have to ask me?"
"Well. I made some pretty rash decisions when I was younger… I thought they would be good for me, but… They turned out to be the only thing that could hurt me."
Tohru's face flashed on his eyelids. He squeezed his eyes closed, trying to get her face out of his mind. This made his valiant attempt to hold in his sneeze moot point. He sneezed.
"Whoa. Excuse me. Anyway, I don't want to barge right into this. I thought I would get your advice. I respect you and I think you would know what's best for me."
The instructor looked up from his papers and smiled a wrinkled smile his way. "Why thank you Sohma-kun. I'm glad that you think that way. But remember. You're growing up. You can't hold onto the idea that respected adults will always give you the advice that you need. Someday you'll have to take the place of those to become a respected adult yourself.'
"Yes." Kyo nodded and blushed slightly. He was sure that he would never become what was socially accepted as "respectable."
Kyo stood up and pushed the chair back into place. He bowed, left the room and headed home, reading pages from his textbook like the assignment said. Better to multitask.
Oo0oO
Kyo's decision to become a cop happened after Shishou wouldn't give up the dojo. Shishou still had a bit of an attachment to the place and to his students and had been unwilling to give up the dojo to Kyo's able hands. So he sent Kyo to college on the pretense of him "getting out and seeing the world" which was now possible because of the lifting of the curse.
Kyo with his love of fighting and over developed justice meter had immediately latched onto the idea of being a police officer. It was the ideal job for one such as he and he loved it more and more as he went along. His instructor had praised him openly to the full attention of the class. He was especially fond of undercover work, having played spy games by himself as a child and later on with Kagura.
And now that a police force would take him in, all on a volunteer basis of course, was an extra pride booster. He had been recognized his teacher and now by his community as an asset to them. Someone had recommended him to the police force, he knew and he had an idea of who it could have been: sensei. Kyo was pleased with the chance and wanted to thank him, but sensei was a private man and seemed uncomfortable in most situations. It was a wonder that such a family-man became such a hardened cop.
Kyo walked in the door, his reading assignment finished, and stumbled on Az, who had the bad habit of napping right in front of the door. If the door would move, she would merely scoot over a few inches and plop right down again.
Kyo cursed under his breath and used his foot to scoot Az out of the way. She looked up at him, a very put out look in her wide yellow eyes. She stood up, stretched and sauntered off, dignified as ever, leaving Kyo feeling rather stupid, although he wasn't sure why.
"Birthday present, check." Kyo muttered.
Oo0oO
Kyo walked up the long walk to the double door of a rather nice diner. He spoke to the host at the reservation table, who eyed his in-need-of-a-hair-cut hair in a skeptical manner. The stuffy man led him to the table that Yuki and his small family were gathered around.
When An saw Kyo, she let out a squeal to challenge all other squeals, including some of her own. She unbuckled herself from her high chair, which was a bit too small for her, and she scurried over to him, throwing her hands out wide.
"Kwo!" She called, mispronouncing his name like she usually did.
He gathered her up in a hug grabbing her as she dashed up to him.
"How is my little An?" He asked, smiling a true smile down at her tiny face.
"Present!" An called.
"You're here?" Kyo asked, confused. He was astounded that An knew a word like that. She was only two after all. Most kids were stuck with "Kitty" and "Mommy."
"Present!!" An began searching Kyo, and suddenly it clicked.
"Oh!" Kyo laughed at his stupidity. "Your present is at my house. I couldn't take it with me. They don't allow cats in the restaurant."
An's eyes ogled and then she giggled and clapped her hands together. She squirmed out of his arms and hurried over to her mom and dad and announced very proudly.
"An get kitty!"
And with that she promptly lifted up her arms, signifying that she wanted back up in her booster seat. Machi did so rapidly, as to avoid any An-breakaways.
The group of four sat snugly in a corner booth, away from the hustle and bustle of the regular crowd. Kyo sat beside An and played airplane with her food when it arrived. As they ate they talked about how their lives were going. Yuki seemed to be doing well in school, what with the added hardship of being the head of the Sohma family. Machi was enjoying school and, surprisingly, keeping house. An was pleased with everything.
An was also itching to get her present. When ever there was a silence during which people were stopping to eat she would bang her fork on the tray of her high chair and announce.
"An's Kitty!"
Which would cause Machi to hush her and a whole new conversation would flare up.
But sooner, rather than later, the adults were done (much of An's dinner was on the floor) and they set off.
Not wanting to be there to see the betrayed look on Az's face when she was taken away by An and Machi, Kyo handed over his keys to Machi, directing her as to which cat to take.
"Just leave my keys in the house. No one will break in. I have a high level watch cat on duty!"
An giggled and Machi smiled. The three of them, Yuki, Machi, and An, turned to leave, when Kyo called out.
"Ah! Yuki! Do you think I could talk to you for a minute? I have… well, something came up and I think you should know.'
"Oh!" Yuki's eyebrows furrowed. "Sure."
He waved Machi and An onwards and he started walking with Kyo.
"Well?" he asked when they were a good while away from the diner. "What is it?"
Oo0oO
And it is finished. This is probably the shortest chapter ever. It seems like the quality of these chapters are going down hill verrrrry fast. But I am in a hurry.
I wanted to get this out before I went crazy. I don't like it very much and I may come back and fix it later.
Anyway, review. (Downcast eyes… sniff)