Disclaimer: Alright, this is and isn't my first Faruba fic. Reviews needed, constructive criticism welcome. There may be some spoilers in here, but, at the moment, I am unsure. Actually, I am sure. This takes place after the manga series, but I'm excluding certain events.

This chapter contains disturbing content.

The Thin Line

By Nocturn Sadist

Once Kyo reached his destination, he effectively avoided the one man he did not want to see for once. With the dojo newly renovated and expanded, it was easy. All Kyo had to do was keep his sharp hearing pointed and pad softly.

An hour later, it was time for students to start arriving.

Kyo knew that Shishou had acquired new students, some his age. He didn't know if they had already been introduced to the dojo, but, he new who they were. The first class was a beginner class, but consisted of teens between thirteen and sixteen. Kyo just hoped they weren't boneheads.

So that Shishou remained unaware of his presence, Kyo went out to intercept the class they had both conceded for him to voluntarily teach.

Kyo slipped out of a window, barefoot, and walked casually down the street. He looked for anyone between the specified ages and those who were heading in the general direction of the dojo.

Kyo spotted his first victim just rounding the corner.

The guy was huge, and definitely a bonehead. He wore dark shades and his navy blue hair in a tight and gelled ponytail. He had a black duffel bag slung over his shoulder, but he was clad in leather from head to toe.

As they approached each other Kyo shoved his shoulder against the guy's arm and kept walking.

"Hey!"

Kyo heard the man's boots stomp behind him he picked up his pace. He scanned the street for anyone he might have missed. The whole time he looked for his other students, the guy never relented. His stride was long, so Kyo knew the guy was trying to tease him into running. He picked up several other students on the way. They all looked at the leather clad man, then at Kyo, and followed dutifully. The students kept on glancing back at the neanderthal throughout their trek around town, but, (Kyo assumed) Leather Clad realized that they were heading to Kazuma's dojo; he was too far back to hear Kyo's voice as he told the other kids to follow him.

By the time Kyo had intercepted nineteen kids in all, he doubted Shishou didn't have a clue something was going on. Instead of going through the main entrance, or even a side door, they went through the same window Kyo had deserted earlier.

"Don't make a sound."

Twenty of them slipped through the small window (even Leather Clad) and filed into the room. When Kyo straightened himself, he came face to face with a silently seething Shishou.

For once, Kyo was speechless.

"You're improving Kyo," Kazuma said, "at the art of invisibility. But, you made one mistake."

Kyo frowned. The students glanced at each other, puzzled.

"Why did the school call me this morning, saying you skipped class?"

When nervous grins broke out Shishou spun around and walked up and down the row of students, "one thing you must be sure of is that no one is anticipating you! Otherwise you might as well ring the damned doorbell!"

Everyone shut up at Kazuma's tone. They had just met the man and if one of his senior students had excited his wrath over a simple mistake, then they wanted to keep him happy.

"Takai!"

"Hai!" another senior student ran into the room and began instructing the new arrivals without prompt. Kyo tuned out the bellowing voice as he followed his adoptive father into the living quarters of the dojo.

Kyo stood, his eyes trained on the floor.

Shishou sighed. "Kyo, the school called me this morning, saying you had skipped yet again when you were assigned a student duty by the teacher. You are going—,"

"No!" Kyo sliced his hand through the air. He gasped in air, blown by Shishou's reaction, "I'm not going back to that place."

Once the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them.

"What is it about 'that place' that you don't like, Kyo? The students, the teachers? Don't forget that I had to reach into my pockets to get you back into school."

"I kn—,"

Kyo stopped, or, he was cut off. Kazuma saw his adopted son grip his mouth, the bones in his hands rippling under the skin.

Oh no.

Although it had been a long time since it had last happened, and Kyo was sure it would never happen again, it did. He felt the nauseating feel of his bones bending and breaking; they were rearranging themselves into an animalistic skeleton. Needles slid into Kyo's eyes as his pupils dilated and stretched into those of a feline. He could hear and feel his jaw pop from their hinges. His lips thinned and stretched across he growing teeth.

He could no longer emit coherent screams of agony and shame. What was happening to him?

—

"AAAAHHH!" screams of frustration and rage ripped through Akito's throat. He threw anything that came to hand, at anything that breathed or so much as rustled in the wind. He threw the porcelain bowl at the glass bird cage. The glass and bowl both shattered, releasing several small sparrows. Some fell to the ground seizing in shock, while their brethren flew around the hall, scattering drops of rubies.

Shigure stood in the corner, dodging any objects that were lethally thrown his way. Hatori sat motionless, on the floor. To Shigure, the man didn't dare breathe.

Akito's hands trembled as he reached down for a trembling sparrow lying in the debris of broken glass and porcelain. His feet left red footprints on the waxed wooden floor. He picked up the ball of feathers in one fist and toyed with the bloodstained feathers with his other.

"I...I never ask much," he said thickly, "and yet, I can't help but be the one to suffer from the consequences of your selfish actions."

Shigure made to approach Akito. Instead, he heard the pleading protests of the sparrow, as if its skin was being peeled from its wings.

One feather fell to the floor at a time. Hatori continued to sit in the same position as when he first knelt. He hadn't twitched since Akito began his angry rampage.

"Akito," all that moved was Hatori's lips, "what's done—,"

"Nothing is done!" a withering smirk adorned Akito's features, "nothing is done Hatori, love. Nothing is done, and now, the entire family is dead!"

"Akito," Shigure's voice sounded hoarse to his own ears, "Kyo isn't responsible for...it's not his fault. Akito, when you told us about—,"

Akito held up his hand with the suffering sparrow, "what did I tell Kyo-kun to do? I told him to take care of old business. It's God's fault we were cursed. So, technically..." Akito twisted the bird's head, feeling the small bones flex and give, "it's God who has to pay the price."

Author's Note: Thanks for reading and please review! The characters might be a bit OOC, but I didn't know how Kazuma would act if he had finally gotten fed up with Kyo, and frankly, I haven't touched Faruba since last year. Go ahead, punish me!!!

By the way, I need a beta worker...