Chapter Ten
The evening had continued on easily enough. Hotaro stopped picking his nose, and began to merely fidget instead; Mahiro turned out to be a fairly bright and respectable young girl, with a firey hatred for all annoying boys, and girls for that matter. But despite the antics of the two younger members of the group, Kyo's attention kept turning towards Saya. She sat there quietly for an hour or so until Ichiro finally asked her if she was feeling alright. She gently nodded and gave a slight smile with the soft, "yes." But despite the silence, he thought he could feel her acclimating to his own presence; she, like Ichiro, must be slightly more discerning that the rest of the town, even though she still didn't talk to him. Or maybe he was just imagining it. Either way, she didn't pose a threat, so he didn't care.
"Where are you from?" Kyo looked at Mahiro, who had asked him the question.
"He's from out of town, Mahiro," Ichiro stated matter-of-factly rather quickly, as if anticipating the question. Kyo hadn't expected either child to take an interest.
"I know, but not many people come into town, so I was curious where it was like where he was from," Mahiro explained.
"I'm traveling," Kyo said.
"To where?"
"Does it matter, Mahiro?" Ichiro asked with a slight intonation that hinted at nervousness, despite the cheer in his voice. He seemed to know that the fewer questions asked, and answers given, the less at risk everyone would probably be later on. Kyo ran a hand through his jet-black hair, which shone a little red if he was standing in the sun.
"That's a nasty burn!" Mahiro stated. Kyo had forgotten about the scar on his inner left forearm.
"Yeah, that's what happens when you don't pay attention in the kitchen." He figured Saya and Ichiro would be grateful for the educational lie.
A while later Saya announced they had to go home so she could make dinner and they could do their homework for tomorrow. Ichiro offered a ride again, but it was refused once more.
As they left, Kyo was slightly torn between gratitude to whatever forces may be that he was finally released from his torture, and the ever so slightest bit of feeling of maybe missing them. But only the slightest. And it disappeared before he returned to working on his bike. He had decided to leave the jeep to Ichiro.
At dinner, Kyo announced his plans to depart the next morning, and Ichiro said he could take as much food and supplies as he felt he needed, though he knew that there were many small towns along the road, several deserted, which would make Kyo's life a little easier.