GriffindorHyuuga: Cool! One more review! Whoo Hoo! Thank you loretta537! Here's chapter six!

Chapter Six

'I wish I could've stood where you would've been proud. That wont happen now.' -Dixie Chicks

"Wait, I still don't see what the big deal is." Risu was saying as we walked down the sidewalk. Airesth had arranged for us to go out in the afternoon, before my meeting with Machi. It was me, Risu, Airesth, Miharu, and Kaze. Saturday, after all the rain last night, turned out to be very sunny and refreshing. Which is why Kaze and Miharu wanted to go to the beach, even if just to stand around.

"Do you seriously need me to explain it again?" Airesth groaned.

"You don't really have to-" I was about to start but was cut of by both Airesth and Risu.

"Yes she does," and "Shhh!" were my replies.

"Look, long story short-" I tried again, but was cut off, this time by Kaze.

"It's nothing big really, she just almost rammed her face into...him..." She blushed a little which didn't help my situation at all.

"Kaze..." I groaned.

"Whether it's big or not, only Kitani can say." Airesth said with a smirk.

"What the-Airesth!" I exclaimed. Kaze giggled at that and Miharu just burst out laughing. Risu slung her arm about my shoulders and leaned over me to see Kaze. Frustration from not getting why everyone was laughing was clearly written on her face. "So, wait, she almost crashed into him; right?"

Kaze nodded. "Then what's the big deal?!" She waved her free hand up and down in aggravation.

"It's where she almost crashed into him, you nimrod." Airesth sighed while reaching up to bonk Risu on the head.

"Ow! Darnit, you...midget!" Risu glowered, rubbing the back of her head.

"Oh that's creative." Airesth mumbled. She had a point too, since she, Kaze, and Miharu are short.

"Fine." Risu sighed. "WHERE, did she almost crash into him?"

"Hey look, we're at the ocean!" I pointed up ahead, only to have my hand pulled down by Risu, who was still waiting for an answer.

"Okay. Risu." Miharu spoke up. "Hatsuharu was standing by the booth, yes?"

Risu nodded. "Yes."

"Okay, when you're sitting down, where does your head usually come up to to a guy standing up?"

Risu dropped her arm from my shoulder and thought this over deeply. Kaze giggled a bit, but quieted down for Risu's sake. Risu did a couple of movements with her hands, first the left, then the right. She moved them up and down by her side around her waist section. Just when we thought she was getting it, she crossed her arms and looked up.

"I still don't get it."

"Oh my gosh!" Miharu threw her hands in the air and turned back to the beach. "Kaze, lets go play in the water." She walked down the wooden steps that led from the sidewalk down into the sand.

"Okay, wait up!" Kaze ran to catch up with her.

"What the hell?!" Risu exclaimed.

Airesth continued to try to explain to Risu, and after about another five minutes of a few outbursts of frustration, I finally just grabbed onto Risu's arms and looked her in the eye.

"Risu. My face was THIS CLOSE," I held up my fingers for emphasis. "This close to a place where a girls face should NEVER be. Where a girl should never look on a guy."

I held her eyes for a moment until I saw a dawning come over her. "His ass?" She asked bluntly.

My face dropped and my cheeks burned.

"Eh. That's as close as you're going to get. Can we play in the sand now?" Airesth questioned.

"That's not it? Then..." Risu became quiet again before her eyes widened and she grabbed both of my shoulders. "The other side?! Are you KIDDING ME?!"

I was unsure of what to do. Her eyes were kind of scaring me. "Uh. I told you...you said yourself it wasn't that big a deal."

Risu took a deep shaky breath as she shook her head. Her mouth was moving but nothing audible was coming out. Eventually, she let me go, stepped back, and then patted me on the head. "You poor, poor girl."

"...Thanks." I said dryly after she pulled her hand away.

"Okay! Now we can go play!" Risu said brightly to Airesth. The two ran off down the steps and I stood there for a moment.

That was SO embarrassing. For Risu to drag it out like that left me with a shaky feeling. I'm not used to talking about real guys like that. It's really awkward, considering we go to school with him. I was lost in thought for a moment that I hadn't realized that Risu had been calling my name.

"What are you, deaf?!" She yelled as she and the other girls stood in the sand staring at me. "Come on!" She waved her hand over.

"Yeah, we're going to teach Kaze how to swim!" Miharu added before grabbing onto Kaze who had a startled expression on her face after hearing that.

We never did get Kaze into the water. But, somehow or the other, Airesth mysteriously ended up falling into the water herself. Miharu was still laughing about it when we reached the small coffee shop I'd gone to last night with Airesth and Kovu. When she remembered that I was there to work on a project, she bolted out of there and called up her own friends. What a true cousin, I thought as I rolled my eyes. I took a seat on one of the empty couches in the center of the place and pulled out my portable music player as well as the paper I had to write by Monday.

I was able to get down five lines when I felt someone walking up behind me. I turned, expecting to see Machi; but froze when I saw someone totally unexpected.

I dropped my pencil and turned fully in the sofa. "Dad?" I asked, confused.

My father stood there, towering over me. His form was, as always, huge and rigid. His bulging arms seemed to be confused as to where they should be, and just hung there at his sides. His brown hair was graying into white towards the ends and there were bags under his eyes. He was silent and tense. I couldn't feel anything but shock and a little fear. What's he doing here?

"Hi, Kitani." His voice left his chapped lips in a dead tone.

I couldn't do much, just breath the word, hi, back.

"Are you busy right now?" He questioned, his eyes left me for a brief moment to glance around me. I gulped, slowly pulled down my earphones, and fidgeted in my seat. "Not right now...what's...um..." I trailed off and noticed that his fists were now clenched.

It's been almost an entire year since I've seen him and a few months since we've exchanged words. Though, when I think of that last conversation, I remember why I hadn't attempted contacting him.

"I need to talk to you." His words were sharp where his eyes weren't and they cut through my shaky defenses.

"O-okay." I stuttered. I slid my paper back into my school bag along with my music player. He took a step back as I stood up then he turned and walked out the door. I hesitated but eventually followed. It didn't register into my mind yet that he wanted to go somewhere else until I was outside and saw him walking down the sidewalk already.

"H-hey." I called out. He stopped and turned around. I gripped onto the strap of my bag to keep from trembling. "I'm waiting for a friend to come, so I can't leave." He stared silently before taking the steps back to tower over me.

"Okay. When you're not busy," he said this for a guilt affect. "I'd like to talk to you. When can I talk to you?"

I opened my mouth and for a moment, nothing came out. "I-I don't know. Maybe a little after five?"

"Alright." His eyes shifted up and around us. "Alright, I'll be here at five." With that, he turned and walked down the sidewalk.

My feet were stuck to the pavement. I literally couldn't move. Just being in that man's presence made me feel vulnerable. And it was always Mom who made it better. One could definitely say that I 'was thinking oh shit now.'

I don't know if it was one, five, or ten minutes later; but, Machi stepped up behind me and tugged on the sleeve of my shirt. I snapped out of it and turned around. Putting on a small smile, I gave a greeting followed by an apology.

"I was kind of out of it there, huh?" I laughed nervously. "Do you want to go inside now?" I reached for the door to open it when she said something.

"You seem scared." I turned back to her. "It's none of my business, but did someone scare you?"

I shook my head and tried for a reassuring smile. "No. I'm okay."

She was quiet as her eyes seemed to study me. She then stepped through the door I was holding open and walked into the shop.

"I'm sorry for being late. There was a student council meeting that took longer than expected." She was saying as I followed her back to where I had been sitting before.

"Oh. Well, it's fine, really." I assured. I only had about three hours before my father would come back. That gave me two and a half hours to work on this project. I needed the other half hour for mental preparations.

Life is funny in the way that when you want time to go fast, it goes painfully slow. And, when you want it to last forever, it's over in the blink of an eye. Only, I'm not laughing this time.

Before I knew it, we were talking about going to the track and field Thursday and Machi was heading out the door. I turned to look back at the clock on the wall by the counter. Four thirty-five. I moved over to a booth by the window and dropped my things on the seat. The sun was getting lower as people were out walking their dogs before dinner. Dinner. Man, I'm actually hungry. I slid all the way to the end of the booth. I propped my head up with my hand and stared outside.

My father would seem like a nice man on a first impression basis, but there is something below the surface. My mom would know first hand. My chest tightened. Yeah, she would know. He was someone who'd put her down when she was a new mother. He pushed her around and kept her prisoner. She never said it like that, but that's how I see it. There's absolutely no excuse for what he did to her and a part of me still holds a grudge against him.

But, he's always pulled the father card on me. Made me feel guilty. As if I'm his last chance for sanity in his old sick and lonely age. He didn't look took sick earlier and I kept that in mind. I still couldn't figure out what he wanted to talk about. For me, there was nothing to be said. It's sad, but I don't want anything to do with him. It's not sad. My conscious eats at me, telling me it's horrible. He's as human as anyone else and has feelings that could be hurt just as easily as mine. The big softy is probably where I got it from. I thought with a grumble. I then scoffed and rolled my eyes. Yeah. Like a big softy could abuse people.

Stop it. I turned away from the window with a deep frown. That's enough.

"Hi Kitani." That voice greeted before the body slid into the seat across from me. I glanced at the clock. Four forty-five.

"Hey." I turned my attention to him and sat up straighter. "It's not exactly five yet."

His eyes met mine evenly. "You're not busy."

I dropped my gaze. "So, you said you wanted to talk."

"I'm sorry about your mom."

I felt myself tense and my fingers go numb.

"I didn't say that before, and I'm saying it now. You're staying with your Aunt Nadia?"

I kept my gaze low and jaw clenched as I nodded. He nodded as well. "And you're liking it there?" I nodded again. "That's good."

A part of me wanted to say the cold words, 'what do you care' but I decided against it. Just let him say what he wants so this can be over.

"Your school. How is it?"

I glanced up at him with confused eyes before lowering my gaze again. "It's fine. Why do you ask?"

"I want to know how you're doing." He replied in a surprisingly concerned tone. I played with the sleeves covering my hands. There's something else. Say it. "Kitani." I knew it. I looked up at him and bit the inside of my cheek. His eyes were switching back and forth between mine. "I want you to come live with me."

"..." I stared at him for a moment. "What?"

"I believe we can make this work. With your mother gone and Inuske off on his job, I figured it would be the right thing to do."

I leaned back away from the table. Where was all this coming from? What the hell is he talking about? "How would it be the right thing?" I questioned in a shaky voice.

"I'm your dad, Kitani." He actually said this with authority. I snapped my eyes back up at him.

"You're my father." I restated. I shook my head, looked down and mumbled, "There's a difference."

"I'm living in a new place, and it's nice. It's got enough space for a family and the neighbors are friendly. I'm still recovering from an accident I had a short while ago, but soon I'll be back to work. I'll take care of whatever you need. There will be food on the table and your school will be paid for." I could feel his eyes staring at me intently and I fought the urge to run.

"You had an accident?" The words left my mouth before I could process them. I was still confused as to how he knew about Inuske being out of town.

"Yeah." He exhaled his breath and leaned back in his seat. "Some guy screwed up in transferring a huge box of equipment. Pow! Right into your ol' dad's head." He hit his forehead for emphasis. "It hurt real bad. But your daddy got through it."

I nodded detachedly. His huge calloused hands reached across the table for me, stopping in my line of view. "Kitani. Look at me, darling."

My head slowly lifted to where I could see him. "I'm a new man. I want to make this work for you. You're all I have." His hands were trying to reach out for mine, but I refused to put them back onto the table. "Baby, please think about it. I want to be there for you. I want to be what your mother was preventing me to be all these years. I want to be your dad. Please think about it, darling." He then stood up and leaned over to kiss me on my forehead. He slid out of the booth and left a slip of paper on the table before walking out the door.

I slowly reached out my fingers to the slip of paper. They nudged it enough for me to see that it had a phone number written down on it. I pulled my hand away and dropped my head into my arms.