A/N Well I made a big booboo in the story. Not a big one but a booboo none the less. I'll fix it but it really doesn't affect the story.

Other than that please enjoy and if you got anything to say review or PM me.

Silver Spawn

Chapter 9

He walked through the inn door and took of his shoes as is custom in Japan, and called out "I'm back"

"Welcome back Kesen" said an old female voice from the kitchen "how was your first day of school?" she asked coming through the kitchen door drying her hands on a washcloth.

"Your clothes look soaked" she said looking the boy up and down with worry in her eyes which turned lecherous and smiled that perverted smile. His clothes were indeed soaked, his undershirt stuck to his stomach showing off his barely noticeable six pack. His hair was still dripping beads of water stuck on the ends of his hair and rolling down the side of his face.

He laughed scratching the back of his head " took a tumble in the river a little while ago" he said ignoring the way she was staring at him.

"Go and get those clothes off before you catch a cold. Answer my question real quick though how was your first day?"

"It was ok, wasn't great but wasn't horrible either"

"Sorry it didn't go the way you wanted sweetheart"

He shrugged his shoulders "it's alright, I didn't think it was going to be perfect but it definitely could have gone better. I ended up meeting someone who I knew from the states and we aren't exactly on good terms." he sighed and walked towards the kitchen where Rika was standing in the doorway. "The student council don't like me much and there is another two women from another club that want me to talk to them or join their club, i'm not sure yet. Then someone tried to follow me back and I had to lose them."

Rika looked shocked but smiled "so you turned out to be pretty popular today but your not used to that i'm guessing, although that person following is a little concerning" she finished with a frown.

He smiled " don't worry, like I said, I can take care of myself"

She didn't look convinced. He sighed grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "If there is one thing I know how to do it's defend myself, whether it be from fists, knives, or guns I know how to protect myself. If you believe anything I say please believe that." he finished with a smile. "And plus if something happens to me it just frees up a bedroom for you and Azuma" he added nonchalantly.

"You stupid boy" she yelled at him making him jump slightly, sometimes wolf hearing wasn't such a good thing.

"Do you honestly think that was any of my concerns? We may not have known each other long and your not used to someone caring about your well being but don't think we don't care." she said her eyes getting glossy with unshed tears.

"Rika, I die no big deal you'll be sad for a day if that and go on with your life."

SMACK

Now her tears were flowing like a small river. Kesen couldn't understand why she was acting like this, he wasn't anyone to her he was just some kid that was staying in her inn.

"You may not understand it but you will damn well respect the fact that we care and I don't want to hear you talk like that again. Do you hear me!" she shouted at the dumbfounded young man.

"What the hell is all the commotion in here" said Azuma walking through the backdoor. He stared at his wife and then at kesen. One had tears in her eyes as the other one was nursing his cheek that had a red mark on it.

Kesen shook his head letting his hand fall to his side "nothing i'll go change so I can get to work." he walked up stairs

As he walked up the stairs he rubbed his cheek being reminded of the dream he had this morning and the memories it brought forth. 'Maybe I should leave' he thought to himself glumly. It sucked but it was probably for the best in the long run especially with the church coming.

He got to his room and started to remove his soaked uniform. He hated taking off wet clothes they would always suction to his body and made it hard to get off. He tossed his clothes in his bathroom and grabbed a black t-shirt and some basketball shorts and threw them on and headed back out of his room. He walked down the stairs and went back into the kitchen looking for Azuma. He saw Azuma standing near the back door with a glass of water in his hand. He looked over to Kesen and motioned to follow him out into the backdoor.

He looked around waiting to be pointed in the right direction so he could get to work and when Azuma didn't say anything Kesen looked towards him. Azuma looked like he was contemplating something while he sipped his water but didn't know where to start. Kesen thought he knew where the conversation was going to go and beat him to the punch.

"I'll have my stuff out by tomorrow"

"Don't be so dramatic kid. I wasn't gonna kick you out or anything so don't go acting like that. I'm just at a loss of what to say to you, Rika told me what you were saying and to be honest what you said was harsh but true."

Kesen looked at him surprise clearly showing on his face but didn't say anything. He expected Azuma to give him the same line Rika had, but he was agreeing with him. He continued to stare at the old man trying to figure out where this was going, but he couldn't think what he was going to say next.

Azuma chuckled " what? Didn't think I would agree?"

Kesen shook his head but still didn't say anything.

"You have a screwed up way of looking at the world I won't deny that but what you said was true. If you die tomorrow sure we'll be sad but life moves on, humans don't want to focus on the negative they would rather repress it and move on or just forget about it entirely. That old saying time heals all wounds is as true as it is horrible. Yes we'll have fond memories of you flirting with Rika and living with as for the past week but in time all you'll become is a kid that stayed with us that went and got himself killed".

Kesen looked down at this he didn't wish that was the case but ultimately that was what could happen.

"Rika doesn't want it to be like that though".

Kesen looked up at this and stared at Azuma with doubt in his eyes.

Azuma saw this and sighed " most people wouldn't give a rats ass about whether you went and died, but Rika is a different story. She loves with her whole heart and would give a lot just to help someone out of a tight spot. She is the most caring women I have met in my entire life, and with how old I am that's saying something." he smiled a bit and continued " its honestly why I fell in love with her in the first place, she really is one of a kind. She knows how true your words were better than anyone else, but she refuses to think that way"

Kesen wanted ask about that but before he could Azuma waved him off.

"That's her story to tell not mine and she'll tell you when she's ready or maybe not at all, the point is kid you can spend your life dwelling on the negative in life or refocus in on the positive. I don't know what you've been through so far in your young life that's turning you into a pessimist, but there is good in this world if your willing to search a little."

Azuma tried to continue but Kesen cut him off. "I know there is good in the world I can see that in the way a mother can look at her child or the way you and Rika look at eachother, but I learned a long time ago there was also bad in it as well, and to me the bad outweighs the good. Call me pessimistic if you want but seeing homeless on the street while people pass by ignoring them, junkies so concentrated on there next score they don't care what they have to do to get it, or mothers and fathers abandoning children for their own selfish wants." said Kesen staring off into the clear blue sky a little emotion leaking into his voice as he spoke. He turned to Azuma his voice now hard and cold" i've seen monsters murder families in cold blood just for the hell of it, 'cause they were bored' they told me"

Azuma just stared a the messy haired young man, looking into his narrowed dead looking eyes. Kesen remembered looking into the mirror one time and saw his eyes after one of those experiences. He felt like he was staring into the eyes of a seasoned war vet that had seen more death than one man could handle. Azuma continued to stare slack jawed and Kesen knew he would have questions that wouldn't be answered.

Kesen sighed and decided to end Azuma's pep talk here. "So i'm sorry if I have a screwed up world view but you would too if you lived my life. It's not that I don't want those good things in my life but I realized that they weren't for me but for others. All i'm doing is waiting for the next shitty situation to be thrown my way". He looked around quickly and spied a wheelbarrow filled with concrete bags and a broken fence post along the fence line, with a new one lying on the ground right next to the fence. Along with all the tools he needed for work required. He figured that was his job today and made his way over.

He stopped suddenly and looked back to Azuma. " and I wasn't being dramatic about moving out. All of my problems started with a smack to the face so I figured this would follow the same pattern". He continued towards the fence leaving Azuma to contemplate what Kesen had just revealed to him.

While Azuma sat on the back porch Kesen got work. He liked the idea of shutting his mind off and just working on what needed to be done. He saw Rika come out with a snack and a drink for him, but leave it on a table outside next to Azuma. He ignored it and continued mixing the concrete in the wheelbarrow with the small shovel he found in the tools that were left for him.

He kept moving not taking a single break only pausing for short seconds to look for the tool he needed next. Sure it was hard work he needed to remove all slats of wood that were connected on both sides of the broken post. Remove the horizontal beams connected to the post and dig out the post itself. Mix the concrete and pour it into the hole the old post was in and set the new post, then work in the reverse and put everything back where it was originally. It took him maybe an hour or two to finish the job properly. Cleaning up after himself and cleaning the tools of the drying concrete he got on them took the longest.

He looked to the back porch and saw that Azuma was no longer there and decided to get his workout started since he was already warmed up from his repair job. He moved to the side of the inn so he could get some privacy and started with his morning workout routine. Push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups on a tree branch hanging over head. He didn't add much in work outs just burpees, handstand push-ups with both hands and one handed and other ab workouts. He did add on more repetitions to all the work outs, increasing them by four hundred bringing the total to five hundred. He wasn't able to do this before but once the bite entered the equation he had to up it because of the enhanced strength.


He was on the side of the house doing his one armed handstand push-ups when Rika rounded the corner. She stopped and stared at him for a good minute before announcing her presence. She walked over and coughed so she didn't startle him and make him fall over. He looked up but didn't stop his workout.

"What's up Rika?" he said looking back to the ground and grunting as he finished another repetition.

"Dinner is ready" she said a little timidly

"Thanks, I'll be in once i finished my workout" he told her expecting her to turn away and head back inside. He was surprised when he saw her still standing there when he got on his feet. He was expecting to see her same perverted smile but all he saw was her old face etched in worry.

"What's wrong" he asked wiping his face on his shirt, giving her a quick peek at his stomach. She still didn't react, she just kept staring at him and then the ground looking like she wanted to say something. He thought he knew what she wanted to say but kept quiet because he had gotten it wrong earlier with Azuma.

She kept standing there for a minute or two but finally spoke in a voice quiet enough that if he didn't have his werewolf hearing he would have missed it completely.

"I'm sorry"

He sighed "You don't have anything to be sorry for, so don't worry about it. I can take a few knocks to the head, i'm not fragile"

"Still I shouldn't have done that." she paused for a second "Azuma told me what you said and if I had known I would have…"

"But you didn't know... so no harm no foul"

"You thought we were gonna kick you out, you can't say don't worry about it.

"It doesn't matter though, I need to learn not to take things so seriously. Azuma was right I was being a little dramatic and overthinking it." he said as he started to walk past her but she grabbed his forearm, stopping him from ending the conversation.

"What happened to you" worry showing on her face

"A lot" he smiled at her "too much" he added softly grabbing her hand leading her back into the house and to the dinner table