Far and Away
Chapter Two: Away From Home
Babblings: Thanks guys so much for all your positive feedback. The more you review, the sooner I update. Much appreciated. I'm glad you all like Kira so much. I just feel like I haven't paid him enough attention in the last two stories of this series. He's finally getting his chance.
Oh, and what I meant by "multiple partners" is that the first (or second or third) person Kira sleeps with won't be the one he falls in love with. You'll see what I mean. I don't want to give too much of the story away.
Someone told me this series is the only good mpreg they ever read. That makes me to unbelievably happy! Just for that, you all get bunches and bunches of free cyber cookies!
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I met Wataru at the bus stop on the edge of town. We didn't really have a plan, but I figured we'd either catch a bus or hitch a ride – whichever came first. The nippy fall air circled around me, rustling the leaves and making me wrap my arms around myself to keep warm.
"Hey, Kir," he greeted, enveloping one arm around my shoulders, although he was tall enough that I was basically an armrest to him. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
For a moment, I closed my eyes, thinking: Do I really want leave everything I've ever known? And the answer was a rather reluctant yes. I just couldn't dwell in this town any longer. I needed to get out, away from my flawless family. So I nodded. "Yeah, Taru, I do, but you don't have to come with me. I can do this on my own."
A smile graced his features, accentuating his hazel eyes. "You can't get rid of me." Thankful, I leaned against him as we waited.
It was a few minutes before any car passed us on the highway and they blew by without so much as slowing down. Sighing, I lowered my head and started walking, deciding that it was better than just sitting there while the sun got closer to rising. Wataru trailed after me. In many ways, it was a beautiful night. The moon was almost full. The sky only contained a few wisps of clouds. Wataru's silhouette in the moonlight was intriguing, the way it outlined his slender body and toned muscles. I wondered how I looked. Several minutes later, another vehicle came into view, this time a small pickup. It slowed down and I waved my hands wildly, figuring he wouldn't be able to see a thumbs-up sign in the near-darkness. To my eternal gratefulness, he stopped. The man driving was maybe in his mid- to late-twenties and he donned a cigarette in his mouth. I took this to be a good sign, because he was probably less likely to tell us to run home to mommy. "Where you guys headed?" he asked.
"Same place you are."
He grinned. "Hop in then."
We learned in just a couple minutes that his name was Dai and that he was headed into Konoha City to visit his sister and mother. It wasn't exactly the place I wanted to end up, because of my family's history there, but we could hitch another ride out of the city if need be.
Dai drove through the night. I dozed off against Wataru several times, but I never fell into a deep sleep. I had too much to think about. We had no plan, but we did have enough money to get us through for quite awhile until we could get jobs. Still, I was scared. I was afraid for what might happen to us on the streets, if we ended up there. I knew, vaguely, what had happened to Daddy. But this was my chance – my chance to prove that I could be someone without my family.
Sometime in the early morning, I could just see the highline of the city peaking over the horizon. I'd seen the city only a handful of times in my lifetime and it still caught my breath that so many people could be living in the same place. I prodded Wataru awake. "We're almost there." He opened his eyes, groggily, and then closed them again, drifting back off to sleep. I laughed and poked him again. Wataru had always been a deep sleeper. "Come, on sleepy-head."
Dai chuckled. "You guys must be really good friends."
"Yeah," I said. "We've been best friends for nearly ten years now."
"I used to have a friend like that," he said, his voice lowering as he got caught up in reminiscing.
He said nothing for awhile and I let him think while I finished waking Wataru up by pouncing on him. "Hey, Taru! Wake up! I'll leave you behind!"
That woke him up. We both knew I couldn't leave him, but he didn't tell me so. Instead, he grabbed me, roughly, and gave me a noogie. "That's what you get, stupid."
"Whatever," I said, crossing my arms and feigning a pout.
"Take my advice," said Dai, speaking up again, his eyes lighting up at the sight of us playing with each other like brothers. "Don't let each other go. You'll regret it for the rest of your lives."
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Dai dropped us off in the nicer part of downtown. He said it was the best place to start – start what, I have not an idea. I'd never been in this part of the city. Destin's old school had been on the outskirts of town and he and Kei and Tal now lived in a nice suburb some many miles away from here, from what I remember from the few times I've visited them since they moved. I was thankful for that. If Wataru and I decided to stay here, there was less of a chance we'd run into them. It's a good thing it was still fairly early in the day so we'd be able to figure out what we were going to do. Or we'd just take things as they came to us.
We ended up just walking around, beneath the leviathan-like buildings. I thought of the people sitting in those buildings, in their cubicles, doing their monotonous, boring jobs and I really hoped I wouldn't end up like any of them. I did't think I'd have to fear that, though. All those people were educated. Educated idiots. You'd have to be really stupid to want to sit behind a desk for the rest of your life until you became too old and you retired and were left to sit and wonder where your life had gone and why it passed by all too quickly.
After a few blocks, we came to a park, and, to my joy, I saw a handful of boys playing basketball. Wataru and I shared a look before wandering up to the boys and watching from the sidelines. They were good, we could tell that much, but I could easily point out their errors – except for one. He was a tall boy, perhaps taller than Wataru, with long, black hair tied back in a ponytail. He possessed several piercings, including one on his lip, about four on each ear, and one on his nose, and maybe more in places I'm not sure I want to think about. And in spite of the tight pants he wore, he was extremely good at basketball. Every move he made was graceful and original. The boys on the other team never knew what he was going to do next. It was as though he was dancing to the beat of a completely different drum and I found myself wanting to know his rhythm, wanting to be dancing the same dance as him.
I nudged Wataru and we shared a grin. I stood up from our place on the sidelines and called out, "Mind if we join you guys?" Even though I'm horribly self-conscious, I've always been good at hiding it. So yelling at them wasn't that big of a deal.
The guy I'd been watching stopped and eyed me, as though trying to see if I was a worthy opponent. Then he made a sound that seemed like a sarcastic chuckle. "You look like a midget, kid. Go home and play with mommy. But we might consider giving your friend there a chance." That panged my heart, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of showing him that.
Wataru marched up to the guy, tilting his head back just slightly so he could look him in the eyes. "My friend is most likely better than you. Just give us a chance to play and we'll show you. You won't be disappointed."
"Fine," the guy said, yawning and rolling his eyes. "Let's get this show started. You two'll be on the other team. Just kick two of them," he motioned to his obvious followers around him, "off."
We didn't have to, though. Two guys willingly stepped off to the sidelines, eager, I guess, to see the show. I gulped. For some reason, I knew this game was important. It would earn us our place in this city. If we fuck up now… I shivered, not wanting my thoughts to go there.
I took my sweatshirt off and found my place behind Wataru, eyeing other guys on the team, ready to catch the jump ball I knew Wataru would pass me. Wataru and the head-honcho stood in the center of the court, glaring each other down. As soon as the ball was thrown, Wataru and the guy fumbled over the ball until finally the ball was tipped. I caught it and, before anyone had the chance to stop me, I zipped to the opposite end of the court and easily made a lay-up. I felt a smirk come to my face at the look the other guys were giving me. I passed the leader the basketball. "Your turn." He sneered at me and I knew none of my other baskets would come as easily.
We played for a long time. By the time we stopped, the sun was already headed back down the other side of the sky. I can't remember the last time I've been that deeply in the zone of a game. The leader was extremely good, but so I. Plus, Wataru and I had been playing together for a long time. We were perfectly in tune with each other. Every time the guy did something new, we found a way to counter it the next time – and he did the same with us. When we finally ended, all I wanted to do was take a shower and crawl into bed, and I only hoped we'd be able to find a cheap hotel in which to spend a couple of nights.
The main guy surprised me by walking up to me after the game and holding out his hand. "Sorry I underestimated you," he said, although he had his very annoying smirk on his face. "You're honestly one of the best players I've ever seen. My name's Loki by the way."
I clutched his sweaty hand in my equally sweaty one and a sort of understanding came over us. "Loki?" I asked. "As in the trickster god, Loki?"
He nodded. "My mother thought it would be funny. But she's always been a bit… out there."
We shared a laugh before I introduced myself. "I'm Kira and he's Wataru," I said, pointing to Wataru, who'd once again taken his place at my side. "Do you by any chance know a cheap place to stay around here?"
Loki raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you guys must be new in town. If you want, me and my mom share a fairly large house. I'm she'd be thrilled to have a couple of newbies stay for a few days until you can find some place else."
Again, he surprised me and I could tell by the looks on the other guys' faces that he had surprised them to. Apparently, it wasn't every day he invited someone over. "That'd be fine by me," said Wataru, extending his hand to Loki. I nodded, mutely, my agreement.
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Loki ended up living only a few blocks away. I found myself walking along in silence as he and Wataru talked like old chums. When Wataru asked him how old he was, he replied that he was twenty and the only reason he was still living with his mother was because he didn't want her to go completely crazy. Then he asked how old we were and Wataru said that we were seventeen before I could tell him not to say anything. Loki just smirked again and said nothing. I expected him to make fun of us or something; accuse us of running away from home, but he didn't. Apparently he did have some self-control. There was something about him I trusted and I have no clue why. As far as I knew he could be leading us to his house so he could kill us in his basement. But, somehow, I knew he wouldn't. Maybe I'm too trusting, but until now I've never had a reason not to trust anyone.
"Mom, I'm home," he called out as he opened the (unlocked) front door. It was, as he said, a large house, not as large as mine back home, but probably too big for a mother and her son. It was nice, too, and cleanly kept, which was odd since he said that his mother was crazy. Perhaps he was the one who cleaned the house.
But when I met his mom I figured out that she wasn't crazy at all, just a bit (or a lot) eccentric. She was in the kitchen and something she had in the oven smelled absolutely heaven-sent. For a woman who had a twenty-year-old son, she still seemed rather young. Maybe she just aged well. Her hair was up in a messy bun and flowers poked out at many different odd angles. Her skirt looked to be hand-made and her shirt hand-tie-dyed. Overall, she looked like a person I would want to get to know. Everything about her was intriguing, especially the way that when she moved it looked like she was walking on air.
"Oh, Loki!" she said, a bit exasperatedly. "You shouldn't bring people home without telling me first."
Loki just rolled his eyes. "You look fine. What are you cooking anyways?"
"You don't even introduce your friends before you start asking about food? I've failed at raising you," she said with a smirk on her face identical to her son's.
I smiled, inwardly, at their relationship. It was more like they were siblings than mother and son. I guess I just kind of wished it could be like that between me and my parents. They've both always been closer to Destin than they have been to me, even after he moved out. He was their perfect son and I'm just their average son. I guess we've never really had anything in common.
"The shorter one's Kira and the other one's Wataru," Loki said, stuffing a couple Oreos into his mouth. "Guys, this is my mom, Estelle. Mom, they're gonna stay here for a bit. They're new in town and I just couldn't leave them on the streets."
Estelle playfully slapped his hand away from the cookies. "Well, at least I haven't completely failed." Then she turned to us and instead of shaking our hands or some other formal greeting, she gave us both big hugs and said, "You are both welcome to stay here as long as you'd like."
"We can pay you or–" I started to say before she interrupted me by placing a hand on my lips.
"Oh, pish-posh. Don't say anything more about it."
Then she grinned and I grinned right back. I really was beginning to like her.
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That night, Wataru and I shared the spare bedroom. We lay on opposite sides of the bed, too close together to be brothers and too far away from each other to be lovers. That's how I always felt around him, like we were the exact right distance from each other. I was so happy he'd decide to come with me.
"I didn't think we'd be so lucky," he said in the darkness.
"Yeah," I agreed. "If we hadn't stopped at that park we'd either be on the streets or in some trashy hotel on sheets that may or may not been washed since the last people did god-knows-what on them."
Wataru chuckled, quietly. I've always liked his laugh. It's nice to listen to. "Oh, Kir, I love you, man."
"I know. I love you, too," I replied, without even thinking. Because I did love him – like a brother loves a brother. He was everything I had and though part of me wanted to love him more than that I knew he would never be the one for me, just like I would never be the one for him. But I never wanted our friendship to end. I wanted to be with him until the day I died. But I needed someone else, too. I hoped that I'd find that someone here, somewhere in this huge city. "Night, Taru. We'll figure out what we're gonna do tomorrow, okay?"
He yawned and rolled over so his back was facing me. "Yeah. Night."
For some reason when I finally fell asleep that first whole night away from home I found myself utterly content with the world.
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Babblings: Just so you know, just because they're okay now, doesn't mean they won't run into a little, or a lot, of angst in awhile, because they will. I'm telling you so you won't get too content with happiness.
Please review. I want as many reviews for this chapter as the last one. Those reviews are what made me get this out so fast. Keep them coming! I love you guys!
P.S. Don't you just love Loki? He just makes me want to huggle him.