Chapter 11
After his revelation, Kyoko picked up the contract, once again blowing on it lightly and slipped it into her father's desk drawer. She kept all of her ranch related documents in the same place, and this was no exception; though she did hide it between some papers more for his sake than hers. Her next task was to start boiling water for his bath and preparing the meat she bought yesterday to be smoked over night.
As she set a pot of water into the fire, she asked, "So what do I call you? Mr. Tsuruga or Mr. Hizuri?"
"How about Kuon. I would very much like that," Kuon said with a soft smile. Kyoko didn't think that was an option, considering who he was, but he seemed to want a friend more than a business relationship, so she would comply.
"Very well, though I must insist that you drop that Miss Mogami nonsense. No one, not even clients calls me that name. It felt very odd constantly being called that," she informed him.
"Kyoko," he said softly. Kyoko's breath caught in her throat when he said her name. She was expecting Miss Kyoko not simply her name and never has she heard her name said like that, in such a lovely deep whisper. She swallowed a lump in her throat and realized her heart was stampeding within her chest making her shake lightly. She picked up the large slab of meat and slammed it over trying to force herself to concentrate more on her task than the man in front of her.
Kuon was forced to sit and behave while she did everything. While it made sense, telling him that there only there was only one pot of water to fill the tub, and he didn't know how to cook, so how could he possibly help, he didn't have to like it. He found ways around her order though. She had her hands busy with the buffalo meat, grinding pepper and other seasonings into a mortar and pestle and then rubbing the concoction all over the it thoroughly, while he sat at the other end of the table looking through his notes. Since he was obviously more free, the moment the water started to boil, he got up and carted it to the bath under her direct glare.
"You know if you don't let the water boil completely, your bath is going to be tepid by the time it's filled," she told him after Kuon returned with the fifth pot of water to be boiled.
"That sounds perfect actually, it's too hot outside to take a hot bath, but I don't want a frigid one either," he told her as he took his place at the table again, on purposely avoiding her gaze to hide his smirk. He knew his bath would be on the cooler side but was wiling to live with the consequences as long as he got to help her out with the task.
She looked at him funny, her hands stilling over the meat. "What's the point of taking a bath if you aren't going to soak in a hot one?" Anytime she took a bath, which wasn't very often, it was always steaming. It felt so good, melting in the hot water. She would just sit in there until it turned cold.
"I want to be able to clean everything all at once, without having to jump into a freezing cold lake or stream," he stated matter-of-factly and then added, "besides it's not necessary, it warm outside and will be just fine."
Kyoko toss more of the pepper rub on the meat and pressed it in. She watched him sort through some of his paperwork, make little notes here and scratch things out there. He really did seem fine with the idea of a room temperature bath. She wasn't too thrilled though. She was planning on using the water to wash herself, so that meant it would be cold when she used it. She was tempted to ask if she could bath first but refrained. He's the guest, and by that right, should get the bath first.
She dropped the argument and started to finish up her project. She wrapped a thin wire around the meat in four different locations and created a hook at the end of each line. Heaving the meat up, she headed outside to put into the enclosed stone grill. The front door was propped open, because of the water for the bath and the heat in the house, so she had no problems with the door. The problem she encountered was in the form of one Sheriff Lory Takarada.
"Lory!" Kyoko screamed out both in shock and as a warning to her guest inside. "What are you doing here? Is everything alright?" she asked with concern. This was extremely unexpected since they just saw each other yesterday.
"Calm down, Kyoko. I didn't come here for anything bad," Lory informed her. His eyes flickered to the front door and then back at her. Her face was covered in worry lines and frowns. Just from her face should have been worried himself, but he had an idea as to why she was so nervous. "I came by to invite you to dinner. Kouki returned today much to Maria's delight, and we thought to have a family dinner with you."
Kyoko smiled brightly at the news. "He came back today! That's wonderful. How long is he going to stay for?"
"He said he was staying for a few weeks. He worked overtime, so he could come for the fair and for Maria," he said and noticed her shifting the large piece of meat in her hand. "Do you need to do something with that?" he pointed at the meat.
"Ah, yes, I'm going to smoke it overnight," she told him and started to walk towards the smoker. She walked past him giving Lory a chance to lean over and peek inside of the front door. From what little he could see, there was nothing or no one there. He even noticed that both the bedroom doors were open. Lory quickly followed back into place before Kyoko would notice.
"How was his trip? I suppose that he bought Maria a bunch of new dresses," Kyoko asked briefly looking back at Lory. Turning back forward, she let go of a nervous breath and hoped that Kuon was hiding somewhere good. She couldn't say if Lory would invite himself into her home but she would work hard for him not to.
"He did, and he also bought you something. Which I was hoping you would come by so he could give it to you personally." The gift was more of a thank you to Kyoko for always taking care of his daughter while Kouki was away. The moment he returned from any trip, the first things that would come out of Maria's mouth was stories of Kyoko, so Kouki wanted to show her his thanks with the gift. Kouki wasn't really in any hurry to give it to her though, preferring to spend time with Maria. Lory was just using his arrival and gift as an excuse to come check up on Kyoko and her ghost.
Kyoko was pulling open the door to her stone barbeque when Lory told her about the gift. She flinched at the heat coming from it but forced through the heat wave to hook up the meat. "He bought me something? Why would he do something like that?" Kyoko asked.
"Why would any man buy a lovely lady a gift?" Lory smiled behind her back and took advantage of the situation to create a misunderstanding.
Kyoko turned around and gave him an incredible look. She reached over to close the door to the barbeque as she replied, "As much as you would like for that to be true, I know it's not. Tell him that I appreciate the gesture, but that I do not require anything for taking care of Maria. I don't need any tokens of thanks from either of you Takarada men. You are like family to me. You don't pay family for taking care of each other," Kyoko chided Lory making him chuckle.
"Family also enjoy giving things to each other for no reason other than to make them smile. Isn't that also true?" Lory countered making Kyoko blush lightly.
"Fine, but will he wait until I come into town for the fair preperations? I have a few things here at the ranch that need to be taken care of, and tonight I was planning a bath. I already have it half way filled," Kyoko almost pleaded.
Lory sighed. He knew how long it took to fill that bath Hiro had for his wife. He had to fill up once or twice. It was a good excuse, one that Lory couldn't argue with. "I'll tell Kouki and see what he says. I was meaning to ask you, how are you doing since we last spoke about the stallion issue?"
Kyoko nervously licked her lips and quickly put on a scowl. "That stupid man. He came up to me the other day again asking to buy the ranch. 'If it's my ranch, I'll of course provide the stallion.' Like I would ever," Kyoko declared and mimicked Shotaro perfectly making Lory laugh.
"I hear there is a stallion in Northwood that you might be able to use. Perhaps you would like to ride up there and see if they would make an agreement with you," Lory offered and then swiped off some sweat from his brow. "Let's go inside and talk about it. At least away from the fire here," he said as he pointed at the barbeque behind her. Kyoko didn't move towards the house instead she quickly declined him.
"No, actually, Apollo has been very good recently, so I was going to make him my stud next year. I'm willing to wait till then. It will be a little rough, but I'll make ends meet. Besides, your son finally came home. You should be heading back to spend some time with him. I'm sorry I couldn't make it tonight, but definitely another night," she finished and Lory could tell she was eager for him to leave.
He smiled softly and nodded. "Okay, be careful and have a good night, Kyoko."
"You too, Lory and tell Kouki, Welcome Home!" She said cheerily as he made his way to his horse. Kyoko watched him leave and then quickly went into the house.
"Kuon?" she called out looking at his bedroom door.
"I'm here," he spoke out from her left. He was sitting on the floor on the adjacent corner of the kitchen from the front door. She turned towards him with a huff.
"That's where you were hiding? on the Kitchen floor? What if he came in? What if he saw you? He could have shot you thinking you were a thief or holding me captive in my own home," she berated him as stood up.
He snorted at her. "You do have the most interesting imagination, Kyoko," he said with a smile.
"I do not, that is totally possible! You don't know Lory and his crazy ideas." Kyoko turned towards him and pointed a finger at him. "If he saw the two of us living together like this, you could bet your entire fortune that he would see us off to a church to be wed." She poked him hard in the chest and nodded. She walked over to the fire with the water and started hauling it out. "Never mind if you never touched me, he would think I was protecting you or something. The man is crazy!" she exclaimed as she disappeared around the front door.
Kuon stood there thinking about what she said, and it scared him. If he was right in his assessment of the man, Lory was extremely clever and never miss a beat even in his older age. He knew something was up in the Mogami Ranch and came to investigate or at least to see that Kyoko was alright. Perhaps, Lory didn't know it was him living with her, but he knew something was up. While that was troubling all on it's own, the thing that frightened Kuon was the fact that he didn't really mind the idea of being forced to marry her. In fact, it made him almost happy at the thought of it.
It wasn't until after dinner that the bath was ready. Again he was able to eat half of the meal she had prepared, but then she only gave him about half of what she did this morning.
"I'm going to need your clothes, so I may wash them while you bathe," Kyoko told him as she cleaned up the dishes.
"What am I going to wear as they dry?" He asked a little concerned.
"Don't you have extra?" She asked as if she were stating the obvious, and he shook his head.
"I usually just buy new ones when I want to change. The less I have the better for traveling," he replied, stunning Kyoko into silence.
While it did make sense, sort of... Kyoko couldn't believe the wastefulness. She thought perhaps he had carried a least one set of extra clothing, wear one as the other get's washed and dried and then change when required.
"But to simply throw them away as if nothing," she mumbled to herself as she walked into her bedroom. She came out with a handful of clothing and held them out to him.
"These are my father's," she said and looked at him from head to toe. "You are taller than him, but he was thicker than you so his shirts should fit you. I'm a little worried about the length of his pants, but you should have your clothes back tomorrow morning."
"Thank you," he said as he took the clothes. They were soft and faded, obviously well used. He wondered if this was okay, she was to the point of crying when Kuon was going to use his bed and now she was offering him his clothes. He watched her for a moment but she seemed fine so he left with her trailing behind.
"Should I be worried about my virtue with you following me to the bath?" Kuon teased making her frown and then blush.
"I'm not going in with you," she quickly explained, "I want to start washing everything before full dark, I was hoping you would hand them to me or toss them outside when you were..." she paused, flustered with trying to find the right word. Her hands flew up and down gesturing to his body as if to say naked but found different words, "done with them."
Kuon laughed at her unable to say anything like naked or even undressed. She was simply adorable at times. He opened the door to the bath and turned back to her. "I'll set them beside the door and tell you when it's safe," he informed her and disappeared leaving her baffled with his directions.
"Wait, you want me to come in while you are bathing?" Kyoko screamed through the door and waited for an answer. Her cheeks heated up at the thought of it and continued to do so as she waited.
"Kuon!" she screamed and banged on the door.
"Yes?" He finally answered her. She could tell he was just on the other side of the door and could also hear the laughter in his voice.
"I'm not going in there while you are bathing. Just give me your clothes before you get in," she ordered.
"So you rather have a naked man open the door to hand you something than have him covered by a wooden tub 10 feet away as you collected the items in safety," Kuon said out loud as if voicing his thoughts. Kyoko didn't think it of like that, she expected an arm and nothing else, but the possibility of seeing more was there with this method.
"Okay then, here you go," Kuon said and started to open the door.
"NO!" Kyoko screamed and grabbed the handle to shut the door. It swung inward so she leaned back and held on for all she was worth. "Get in, and I'll get them when you are done. Just set them next to the door." She heard him laugh softly, and she growled. He probably wasn't even undressed the cad. She let go of the handle and tried to regain her composure. It was a few minutes longer when she finally heard him call out to her.
"It's safe," he yelled out. He sounded far from the door, but Kyoko was a little afraid of finding a little too much of him. She gingerly opened it, the hinges creaking lightly. His clothes were neatly piled by the door as promised, and she heard the sloshing of water. Her eyes betrayed her and stole a glance at the corner of the bath. She saw the back of his head and shoulders and that was it. Kuon was sitting in the tub, not even facing her and completely covered as promised. His arms were stretched back, resting along the edges of the tub making the muscle in his shoulders bulge from the effort.
Maybe those clothes won't fit, she thought to herself as she took in the wide span of his shoulders.
"Is everything okay?" He called out, twisting his head slightly to catch her in his peripheral vision.
"Yes," she quickly replied, "Enjoy your bath." Kyoko quickly took his clothes and let the door shut on it's own, eager to be away from the siren in her tub. She headed towards the tub with the washing board. She should probably collect her dirty garments from her room, but didn't really have the time to do all the laundry that was required. His garments were the most important for the time being. She set to work, scrubbing each item up and down the wash board using lye soap. It took longer than usual, each of the items were stiff with dried sweat except from his daily use of the items. Once she was done, she was tempted to do it again with a pot of fresh water, but didn't. It was getting late, and she wanted her own bath.
After hanging up his clothes, Kyoko walked inside expecting him to be finished and in his room or sitting in the living room, but found nothing. She lit some candles for the house, walked over to the bathroom door and knocked.
"Is everything alright?" She called out to him.
"Fine, why?" He replied back. Kyoko wanted to say that she was worried since he was taking so long but didn't. She only had her father to compare him to, and he never used the tub.
"Nothing, just curious. I forgot to ask you not to drain the water, I'm going to use it after you are done," Kyoko told him and left. He heard her footsteps fade away and a sigh escaped his lips. He leaned back, his hand rubbed his eyes and a smile erupted from his face.
"That's why she wanted it hot," he spoke to himself. Well, she could have joined me, he thought wickedly. He snorted, laughing at himself and dunked completely underwater. After a few seconds, he emerged standing up to his full height and stepped out. He squeezed the water out his hair and wiped off as much as the water as he could from his body. He walked over to the pile of her father's clothes and soon found a problem with his borrowed items. Her father was not as large as she thought he was.
Kyoko was gathering her night gown and robe when she heard the front door open and close. She walked out of the room and gasped, then quickly turned around.
"They didn't fit," she estimated from his half dressed from.
"No, but I was happy I was able to button the pants," he joked. Kyoko let a little laugh slip as he laughed and risked a glance over to him. Oh, he looked, well she couldn't say he looked awful, but he didn't look comfortable. The pants were short, ending about two inches above his ankle. At least, as he stated, they were wide enough that he was able to wear them. Her father was thicker compared to his slimmer waist, so he was fine there but then came the shirt which had her blushing. He was able to button about three of the very last buttons of the shirt and from then on was nothing but the hard plains of his chest. She could tell the shirt was so tight around his shoulders and down his arms that there was no hope for the shirt should he move wrong. She was surprised he didn't already rip it by opening the door.
Kyoko bit her lip as she couldn't keep her eyes away from his chest. She tried to look away or down or even at his face, yet they kept flickering back to the pale flesh surrounded by the dusty red of the shirt.
"I'm sorry to say that the undergarments ripped when I tried them on," he told her making her take noticed that he was holding them in his hand. She blushed happy that it was growing darker in the house.
"It's fine," she said a little high pitched and coughed to clear her throat. "I sorely misjudged your size. It was my fault. It's just, your clothes didn't really fit you too well, I really thought you were smaller."
"It's alright," he said softly making her jump. He had snuck up on her again and was now standing slightly behind her to her right. He held out the undergarment, and she quickly took it. "They were just something I bought in a hurry, nothing tailored made."
Kyoko turned towards him to ask him how he found clothing close to his size in a hurry but instead of finding his green eyes, she saw his chest and quickly turned away.
"Yes, well they are still fine clothes," she said quickly, "They will be dry in the morning, and you'll be back to normal in no time. Please have a good night, and I shall see you in the morning." Kyoko was very careful in keeping her eyes averted as she walked past him and out the door. Kuon couldn't help but laugh at her flustered reaction.
"That was better than expected," he said to himself and immediately stripped the tight garments off, preferring to sleep naked then in those things.