Chapter Twenty-Nine

The creek was exactly what it sounded like. A creek. The kids ran along ahead of Kyo on a well-worn path to a sizeable swimming hole that was well shaded. One of the trees even had a rope swing. The water was still fairly cold, but that didn't stop the two from running around and splashing each other, and as the afternoon wore on, it became warm enough to brave the rope swing. Kyo sat in the shade of a tree, leaning against its trunk, sleeping lightly. He figured it really didn't matter if he paid attention to the kids. They were barely old enough to do anything other than maybe have a first kiss, which would undoubtedly be little more than a peck. No, he was not sent as a safeguard of morality; that would have just been ironic, he thought to himself. There was no way in hell they could get lost along that trail, unless they intentionally ran away, but they probably would have done that in the middle of the night if they were going to. Besides, what reason did they have to leave here? He was more likely there to keep the kids safe from undesireables. Yeah, Mahiro could kick the shit out of a twelve-year-old, but a full-grown man was another story. And so, Kyo slept, sure that if one of them was drowning or being attacked, he would hear some screaming or something. Besides, his instincts were pretty damn good if he did say so himself.

-

It was late afternoon as they were returning home, Kyo leading the way, with a look of sheer misery on his face, as the other two brought up the rear making googly eyes at each other and giggling. He thought he would die from the cuteness seeping out of their every pore. As they came up to the street from behind the Aizawa house, Kyo felt a strange sensation when he looked at Ichiro's house.

There was a truck parked in the driveway. The front door was wide open…

"Mahiro, why don't go see Mrs. Aizawa and thank her for your kimono and for letting Kazemichi go to the creek today."

"OK!" Mahiro smiled from ear to ear, only too glad to have an excuse to spend more time with her new boyfriend. Kyo figured wild horses wouldn't even be able to drag her away from him, so he had plenty of time to make sure everything was alright.

-

Kyo walked up to the front door silently, and slipped through trying to make his shadow as small as possible to keep whoever was around from noticing his presence. The sun was setting just as he walked in, so the rays reached almost to the kitchen…he could hear someone in there now.

"Well, what do you have to say? TALK GOD DAMN IT!" A man was yelling. Kyo heard no response; Saya must have been in there alone.

"What, nothing to say?" Kyo heard a large smack as he came to the end of the hall as it opened into the kitchen. Sitting in a heap on the floor, pressed against the cabinets in the bottom of one of the counters was Saya. Her hair had fallen around her face, so Kyo couldn't really tell how hurt she was. Kensuke was standing with his back toward Kyo; the 'smack' sound had probably been caused by a backhand to Saya's face since Kyo had heard nothing indicating she had just now fallen on the ground. And not only was Saya on the floor, but practically the entire contents of the kitchen were as well. Plates, silverware, overturned chairs; it had been a hell of a fight so far from the amount of debris that covered the ground. Kensuke must have sensed Kyo's presence at that moment, because he turned on his heel just then with a surprised look on his face, while Kyo was still gawking at the mess.