Chapter 11

Forgiveness

The two of the said their goodbyes to Solomon, he and Haji actually shook hands and agreed to try and get along better now that they clearly knew where they both stood with her. She felt she had accomplished a great feat until she watched Solomon close the door and realize she was on her way to the next one already. Forgiving Kai.

Saya had requested that they walk at a normal pace on their way to Omoro, so she would have time to think about what she would say. She also really needed to decide if she was ready to do this or not. She still wasn't sure that her decision to forgive Kai was the right one. She kept asking herself if it was too soon. As they got closer and closer, Saya felt the sweat under her clothes, making the fabric cling to her skin. Her breathing was a little uneven, and she tried to take deep breaths to calm herself.

Haji noticed instantly that her nerves were heightened, and wrapped an arm around her waist gently as they walked, reassuring her.

"Saya, you know I will never let that happen to you again. If he so much as looks at you the wrong way, I will certainly beat him senseless. He will understand after we leave there that you do not belong to him, and you never will."

Saya nodded, but continued to try and calm her nerves. As they turned onto the street, Saya stopped. Her legs had frozen in place, and it seemed all her efforts to calm down had gone to waste. She wanted desperately to turn around and run away. She didn't want to walk back into that place and relive the horrible moment her brother's restraint snapped. Her heart was beating as though she'd run a mile, and she felt weak.

Haji's arm was still around her, ready to catch her if her wobbling knees gave out. He wanted so badly to just scoop her up and take her away from the source of her pain. But he knew she was too strong-willed to be stopped. She would regain her composure and she would surely press on. That was the Saya Otonashi that he had fallen in love with.

Saya took one last deep breath and straightened her body, slowly putting one foot in front of the other toward Omoro until she stood in front of the door. She wasn't sure if she should knock, or just go in. She opted to knock, seeing as the bar wasn't open yet, and she didn't want to add to the awkwardness by just walking in.

She stood there for a few minutes and waited. She was about to turn away, chalking it up to Kai not being home, but just as she turned to Haji, Kai came to the door and opened it halfway.

"S-Saya!" Kai sounded genuinely shocked as he opened the door the rest of the way, smiling slightly. "Come in! Please!" He motioned for her and Haji to make their way in past him, and they both walked into the restaurant.

"Would you guys like a drink or something to eat? I have plenty of food!" Kai laughed nervously, never taking his eyes off Haji, who looked as though he might lunge at him at any time.

"No, Kai… I just… wanted to say that… I'm glad you came to apologize to me last night." Saya looked down at her feet, since looking Kai in the eye was not easy. "I just wanted to tell you that… I forgive you for losing your cool, and I understand that it was a mistake. I will do my best not to hold it against you."

At this, Kai walked over and gave her a tight hug. He felt her body tense under his arms and he quickly released her, realizing that a hug is what had started things off last time as well. He glanced at Haji, who had clenched his fists as if he was ready to punch Kai for even thinking about touching her. Haji quickly drew Saya into his chest and stroked her hair soothingly, so that she would calm down. She wrapped her arms around him and her body relaxed slightly.

"Don't you ever touch her again unless she says you can. Got it?" Haji said as he held her protectively.

Kai nodded slowly as the realization hit him. "You two… are you a couple now?" He asked, hoping his intuition was dead wrong, but knowing it was probably right.

Saya pulled away from Haji and looked at Kai, but still couldn't look him in the eyes. Haji was about to answer in the affirmative when Saya answered first.

"We're not sure. We just know how we feel about one another, and that is enough for right now. The formalities can come later."

Haji was stung a bit by this answer. He thought that her earlier confession meant that she was now his girlfriend. He was a little hurt that she felt they still needed time before they could be a couple, after so many years. He no longer felt like speaking, so he just glared at Kai, wanting so badly to punch him in the jaw to get out his frustration.

"Ah, I see. I know what that's like. Mao and I were in that phase way longer than she would have liked. It didn't end up working out in the end. She somehow knew how I felt about you, so we had to break up. That was years ago."

Saya nodded, suddenly feeling a little sorry for Kai. She knew he had really liked Mao, although he had always been horrible at showing his feelings.

"So, Kai. I'd like to meet my nieces, if that's alright with you."

She gave her best try at a normal smile, though it was far from her usual one. She also tried to look him in the eye as she spoke, but that only lasted a few seconds.

"Oh! Well they should be home from school any time now. Want to pull up a seat and wait?" Kai said, motioning to the chairs at the bar behind him.

"Sure, I guess." Saya said hesitantly, but grabbed Haji's hand and led him over to the stools.

They waited and talked for about half an hour before they started to hear screams coming from just outside. At first they were muffled shouts, but as they got louder they got more audible.

"No way, Kaya! I like Shinta way more than you do! You don't get to marry him! He has to pick one of us and it will be me for sure!" One tiny voice yelled.

"Oh yeah!? Well I bet he'll pick me because I'm way cuter than you, Kiva!"

Suddenly the two voices had small 10 year old forms as they burst into the restaurant, still yelling at one another. One had bright blue eyes with a blue sundress and the other had deep brown ones with a pink sundress. They only stopped yelling at one another once they noticed Saya and Haji sitting at the bar, and they looked at Kai, puzzled.

"Daddy, why are these people here? It's too early for customers yet." The small blue-eyed girl asked.

"Well, Kiva… they wanted to come at see you two." Kiva looked up at Kai and the small brown-eyed girl came over to her side as they both shifted their gaze to Saya as she got up from her stool and kneeled down so that she was at eye-level with them.

"Hello girls. You don't remember me because you were so small when I went away. But I'm your aunt Saya."

The twins looked at each other suddenly and then, with no warning, pounced on Saya, knocking her off balance and onto the floor. They both laughed and smiled at her, and Saya couldn't help but smile back.

"Daddy's told us so much about you, aunt Saya!" Said Kiva, rolling onto her side next to Saya.

"Yeah, he told us how you saved our lives when we were just babies. We really wanted to meet you for like… our whole lives!" Kaya said as she copied her sister's move on the other side of Saya. "But daddy said we wouldn't be able to see you until we were all grown up. Did you come back early from your trip just to see us!?"

Saya smiled and laughed at her curious little nieces. She knew that Kai probably hadn't told them about their pasts, or what they were just yet. They still had a few years to go before they stopped aging and would start asking questions. He had most likely wanted them to have as normal a childhood as possible before burdening them with their tragic past.

"Maybe I did! Who knows? I just felt like it was time to come back. I guess that's why I'm here." Saya said, smiling down at them.

"Want to play hide and seek, aunt Saya!?" Kiva asked as she got up off the floor.

"Yeah, let's play!" Kaya echoed as they both stood, pleading eyes staring down at her.

"Alright, alright!" Saya gave in after only a few seconds, covering her eyes quickly and beginning to count.

As Kai watched all of this unfold, he was glad his sister was able to finally meet those two tiny lives she had almost taken the night Diva died. He couldn't help but be grateful to have her back. He looked over at Haji for a split second, and he was glaring at Kai. If looks could kill, Kai was sure he'd have been long dead by now.

"Haji, look… if Saya can find it in her to forgive me, you've got no right to look at me that way." Kai said in a low voice so that the trio playing wouldn't hear him.

Haji only grew angrier at this, and he clenched his fists in his lap as he sat at the bar. He glared harder at Kai.

"I can feel however I want to feel. I will always have my eye on you, Kai. The moment you decided to make a move on Saya, you made an enemy of me. And I won't let it go so easily. Saya belongs with me. And anything that threatens her or frightens her… I will make it disappear. So watch your step around me. You REALLY don't want to make me any angrier."

Kai sighed and looked back toward his daughters and his sister. 'Man, he is possessive of her. That's a really dangerous thing. I need to find a way to break these two up before Haji locks her up and throws away the key.' He thought as he began preparing to open up the restaurant.