Chapter Twenty-Six: Hectic

Before they dared brave the outside world, Kai gathered up his tools like it was just another day on the job and the two cleaned up as best they could.

Somehow, in the fog that was maneuvering through a nosy crowd and climbing back into the van, Tyson had found himself in the driver's seat with Kai tending to a laid down Joe in the backseat behind him.

In what felt like minutes, they were back at Kai's place. With Joe placed gingerly on the couch in the living room, the other two went into the kitchen and joined Max at the table, Kenny having left several minutes ago. Kai sat in the seat next to him while Tyson sat across from them.

"Oh my God, what happened out there?!" Max asked as he saw the smeary messes of what appeared to be blood and some kind of other bodily matter. He was caught up on everything going on except for what happened after Kai hung up his phone while driving.

Looking at the blonde, Kai frankly said, "I shot her,"

"Her?" Max sternly repeated, his long-practiced interrogation tactics kicking in.

"I shot Monica," Kai flatly stated, giving him what he wanted to know.

"Dude, shot? More like blew her head off. You split it clean in two. I'm not sure why but you finally gave in and killed her," Tyson gave Kai's shoulder a few firm pats and a shake as he gleefully added, "I'm so proud of you,"

"Killed?!" Max bellowed in shock. Was he hearing the convict right?

"Kai, you didn't. Please say I've misheard something somewhere. Say you performed an emergency surgery on Joe," he begged, not wanting it to be true.

Kai only gave him a slow nod in response, the lights of his eyes shifting between repentant for the action and pleased with himself.

"I was saving Joe's life yes, you didn't mishear a word, and I'm not sorry," Kai said after a minute or two, unfazed by it all.

Max deflated, crumbling under the thought. Kai had committed a major crime. He'd murdered someone, and worst of all it seemed premeditated, meaning a First Degree charge, and he'd get anywhere from twenty-five years to life without the possibility of parole, and that was if the Japanese court system took pity on him for being a dual-citizenship immigrant.

Max pointed at Kai, "You're an idiot," He pointed at Tyson, "And you, you're an even bigger dumbass for encouraging it and becoming a conspirator,"

"Max, it wasn't how you think," Tyson said, seeing how he saw the situation.

"Oh really, care to explain then?" Max spat, his anger apparent more than before.

"I was protecting him, and an out-cold Joe," Kai informed, his stone face unchanged.

"Who attacked first?"

"She attacked me, knocked me out with a gun," Tyson explained, hoping Max would understand.

Giving him a stern warning with his piercing baby blues, Max said, "I wasn't asking you Tyson, hush,"

Kai cleared his throat and said, "I attacked her first. She had her back to me about to murder Tyson in cold blood, with Joe's gun, so I tackled her to the floor to prevent that,"

"Be that as it may, you still intentionally took her life? This, it wasn't accidental?"

"No it wasn't an accident because I was protecting people, including but not limited to my son,"

"Okay, you were defending people who couldn't defend themselves?"

"Correct,"

Max turned to Tyson and asked, "Is this true?"

"I came fully to once the gunshots went off. When the ringing in my ears stopped I found him standing over her corpse. Before that I only felt her thunk me with the chamber of the pistol,"

"I'll see if I can get the camera footage from the district manager. Until then, Tyson, you're going back to prison,"

Max's face went sour and with a disheartened voice he faced Kai again and said, "And you'll have to come with me. I need to file a report on this and fingerprint you,"

Kai nodded and stood up, ready to receive a pair of one of the two sets of handcuffs Max always carried on him.

The procedures at the police precinct took no more than forty minutes, and before Kai could imply that the cop car wreaked of vomit and urine, he was back home again.

Eyeing his grandfather clock, Kai saw that it was pushing toward 1:15 in the afternoon. He had no more than forty-five minutes to check on Dr. Joe's condition and the kids and get all of them comfortably settled in their respective bedrooms, shower to make himself look and smell somewhat presentable to his new patient, and tidy up the place. Ohhh, this was going to be a close one.

Come nightfall things hadn't improved any. Gou had woke up horribly ill from the chloroform, Joe was still resting but now doped up on strong doses of morphine, and numerous news crews had dropped by unannounced to interview him. Thanks to the flyers and some eyewitness testimonies the event, and he himself, had been connected and it sucked no matter which way Kai chose to view it. This was, in his mind, uncalled for and a couple of them were downright disrespectful toward him and the fact that he'd verbally said 'no comment' on the matter.

Around nine o'clock, once supper had been delivered and other dutiful but sincerely meant comforts given, Kai went to cleaning up the kitchen. Mostly the mountain of dirty dishes the nutritious meal had accumulated. This was going to be a long night as it stood but the local press made it feel endless.

Days later, on the Tuesday of that same week, while Kai tended to a six-year-old's infected ear, there was a set of hard knocks at his door. Finishing the last of the ear drops session, Kai sweetly asked the boy to lay ill-ear side upon his mother's lap while he went to see who was outside. The moment he opened the door, he wanted to re-slam it closed.

"Hello, I'm from Channel 5, care to chat about the recent events at Lula Mae's diner?"

Frowning at the accented guest, but mostly at the camera, Kai casually said, "I'll chat when it's about something wrong with you."

Before the young reporter could utter another syllable, Kai shut the door on him and the aged cameraman.

Inside, Kai went back to work as if that didn't happen. He painted on a smile and acted like nothing was amiss.

The following morning, Kai stirred from his light slumber to the sounds of shuffling steps. His elephant ears instinctually zeroed in on the soft rustlings taking place on either side of his bedroom. This meant only one thing, the boys were awake and getting ready for another day.

Rolling over onto his right side, the rent-paying resident noticed that it was coming up four o'clock in the morning. Okay, what were the teen tykes doing up this early? Deciding to investigate, he shifted and moved onto his feet.

Standing in his hallway, he listened in and soon, both doors opened up. Kai wordlessly pointed to the stairs and the two went down them without so much as a hello, not even to each other.

"Good morning, boys," said the doctor as he stepped into the lounge area.

He thought the boys murmured something akin to what he'd said but it was grumbly and hard to decipher. Kai just let it slide, chalking it up to crankiness, and sat down in between them on the middle cushion of the couch.

"What's up? It's not like you two to stop speaking to each other for this long,"

Neither responded to that, choosing to stay silent. As far as they were concerned, he was an old man and couldn't even begin to understand what they were battling through. Well, at least the blue haired Granger felt that way about it. He wasn't sure how Gou exactly felt on all that had happened between them, but he hoped against hope that he'd soon tell him something in regards to the issue. For instance, did he hate him or not?!

"Not sleeping well," said the doctor's child while he relaxed into the cool fabric, his voice sounding gravelly and close to garbled.

Kai played with the crown strands on Gou's head, letting them fall over and over again, "Then sleep, do that as much as you want. If I need you I'll come and get you," he stopped messing with Gou's hair, seeing that it wasn't having the lulling effect that he hoped it would.

Lowering his arm, he added, "That still doesn't explain you two avoiding each other as if one of you had something incurable, but I'll leave it be, for now."

"Can I go see uncle Max before he leaves for work?" Makoto asked, his tired eyes begging to be anywhere but there.

"Makoto, it's four in the morning, I doubt he's up for company, or up at all," Kai reasoned, eyes squarely on the boy sat at his right.

Makoto eyed Gou, who briefly leered back at him before pushing himself up from the sofa and heading up the stairs, his hand gliding along the railing.

Hearing Lin's screams of terror, Kai ran up the stairs to her room.

In the meantime, Makoto took that opportunity to slip away. Tiptoeing out of the front door, and quietly closing it back, he snuck off to Max's house. If anyone could understand his pressing plight, it would be him.

Once Kai had gotten Lin settled down and back to sleep with a single melatonin gummy, he shut her door as he stepped softly out into the hall, making it click closed quietly.

Picking up on some soft grunts across the hall, Kai sighed and went to see what his boy was getting his hands on now.

Coming to stand in the entrance to his son's bedroom, Kai said, "Alright Cinderella, that's enough,"

Gou's heart skipped a beat and in fright he stopped his scrubbing and half spun away from his desk, a sudsed up sponge in his rubber gloved right hand, the other gloved one now resting at his side.

Kai scowled and said, "Enough," He pointed to Gou's neatly made bed, "Sit,"

Gou gulped and did so, hesitantly placing the saturated sponge on a thickly folded bunch of paper towels nearby.

With the close of the door, his father joined him, sitting on the edge of the bed beside him, at his right side.

"This has to stop," Kai began, knowing Gou didn't like hearing that.

Gou knew he'd pissed him off, again, because they'd gone back and forth over this since the move. And even before then too, so the tensions were ever-rising. Still, his dad knew why he did this, but he wouldn't mind hammering it into him once more if it meant that he'd finally leave him alone about it.

"And here I thought only women nagged," Gou quipped after he rolled his eyes, not caring in the slightest to hear any of what his dad had to say.

Kai reached over and pulled down hard on the boy's right earlobe, and once he knew he'd made his point with the tight pinch, he let go and left Gou to soothe it.

"You know why I do this," Gou shouted, "It's how I cope with shit. Do you want me to get better or not?"

Kai didn't say anything, he just took in the smells of cleaners and soap. Looking at his boy, he said, "Of course I do, but you also know how damaging this workaholic mindset is. Find something else recreationally productive to fill that time with. You like to write yeah? Pen down a story,"

Gou rubbed his sweaty hands down his face, tugging it down as he said, "Uuuuggghhhhh! This is so stupid," Facing his dad, he heatedly added, "I'm not doing drugs or drinking or sneaking out, so what is the big deal here?"

"The big deal is that this behavior has morphed into an addiction and I should know, I used to do similar things to cope with my problems,"

Gou blinked a couple of times, stunned, "You did?"

"Yes, but over time I learned through Max and his family that I didn't have to do all I did and live in constant fear of being punished. I could live my life and fill my time with good things, things that mattered to me. Much like I do now,"

Helping people, doing all he did for others, was his therapy of sorts. It not only gave him a purpose but motivated him to do better and give to those who were in a similar boat as he had been. He wasn't perfect by any means, and would be the first to admit that he'd screwed up in many of his life's categories, but no one could ever say that he didn't try to do good by someone somewhere or give his all in everything he attempted.

Gou let that sink in, his eyes shifting around the room, his gaze toward the floor. These habits were hard to break for sure. It'd take some time and a lot of effort on his part, but maybe he could eventually pull it off. But, first and foremost he needed a proper starting point.

Gou licked his dry lips and then looked at his dad with sorrow and fear both swirling in his dark pools. He was sad because he'd hurt him so many times before during conversations like this but he was also scared that because of that he'd turn him away and leave him to deal with this on his own like he'd said he wanted. It'd be his own fault yeah but the thought of that still tore him up beyond belief and he truly didn't want it that way.

Mentally admitting to himself that he did indeed have an addiction of his own to face and that he couldn't conquer it by himself, he asked, "Will you help me, do better, get better?"

Kai could see the intense 'I need you' flickering within his eyes and that broke his heart in two all over again. Tearing up, he vigorously nodded and pulled a trembling Gou into his arms. The two stayed that way for a minute or two, the youngest sobbing in relief and regret.

"You know we're all here for you and believe in you, right? Just like you believe in us," Kai said, it muffled into the boy's shoulders. He gave him a kiss on his head and reassuringly added, "Mm, I'm not ever going to give up on you, okay?"

"Uh-huh," Gou said, unable to catch his breath at the moment.

Kai gave him another kiss on the head and hugged him tighter, rubbing his back a few times for good measure while he added on, "I love you so much, and I'm proud of you,"

Gou didn't say anything, he only cried more, elated about the good news and the possibilities of what was to come.

While his dad let him get it out of his system, he noticed that his room was gradually being painted in swirling and flashing hues of vibrant red and blue.

Slowly raising his head out of the saturated shoulders, Gou composed himself and curiously opened up the curtains. He glanced out his bedroom window and saw a police car that had the word Sheriff painted in big, bold letters on the side of it. What on earth was the Chief Of Police, Mr. Dickenson, doing here?!

In a matter of minutes, Kai, and to his displeasure Gou, made the way downstairs to let the policeman, who'd turned his noiseless lights off, in.

Gou observed as a short and plump, rounded man with a gray broom mustache, donning a dark uniform and a brimmed hat, was ushered inside and sat at the kitchen table. The two adults sat across from each other. His beady eyes, magnified by thick, circular framed glasses, examined the area over and over again as he spoke, his bubbly voice sounding syrup coated and kind of squeaky when he talked too loud.

As he listened in, Gou realized that he'd heard that voice once before on his dad's cellphone. The memory of when he'd run off to check on Makoto at school after receiving that text from him flooding forward. That only ignited his curiosity more, making him sit in the chair next to his dad.

Mr. Dickenson smiled warmly and welcomingly at the boy, the teen sending him back in time to when he first met Kai. Giving Gou a hearty, cheerful chuckle, the senior citizen said, "Hello there, it's nice to meet you,"

Gou looked at his dad, bewildered. Just who exactly was this oddity of a guy? Then it clicked, the home movies. This Mr. Dickenson was the same man. He'd saved his dad's life at one time.

Shyly, Gou politely extended a hand out to him and said, "Uh, hi, it's nice to meet you too, sir,"

With another boisterous, body shaking laugh as he shook the boy's bony hand, Mr. Dickenson said, "Please, feel free to call me Officer Stanley,"

"Okay, Officer Stanley," Gou bashfully answered, feeling hot in the face before retrieving his hand and looking at the floor momentarily.

"What do you need?" Kai asked, wanting to move things along.

Gou's eyes shifted up to his dad, gleefully relieved he'd decided to do that.

Getting serious and putting his mind back on track, Stanley focused on Kai and said, "I need to talk with you about the camera footage we recovered from the diner,"

Gou looked at the cop and then at his dad, "Footage? What footage?"

Kai shot the cop a dirty look and said, "What did you find?"

"Everything we needed actually. If I recall right, you were very candid in your interrogation,"

Kai gave him a curt nod, "I was, and I was with Max too. You know damn good and well that I'm not one to sugarcoat shit,"

"M'well, yes I'm aware but you should still be careful,"

Kai scratched the left temple of his head. "Is that all?"

"No I'm afraid," he paused before pulling out a file from beneath his arm, "I need you to sign this form,"

Kai took it and read over it, "Elaborate,"

"This gives us consent to share Gou's story with the press as well as give your side, along with the footage,"

"Is all this really necessary?"

"It is if you want the press to stop bothering you and not eventually attempt to pull Gou into this,"

Kai saw red, "Why would they pull a minor into this?"

"To get to you and get their story,"

Kai looked at Gou and said, "It's not my piece to tell so I won't sign unless you give permission for the public to know what she did to you,"

Gou thought it over and in the midst of that, there was a set of hard knocks at the door.

Kai got up to answer it and upon opening it, let loose, "If you don't leave us alone I'll report every one of you and your goons for harassment!"

Mr. Dickenson got up and went over to join Kai at the door, the teams of reporters and their bright spotlights not letting up.

"Dr. Hiwatari, is it true you murdered that female escapee in cold blood after saving an elderly man's life?" asked a young female reporter, her microphone in hand and pointed out at him.

"Are you sexist?" asked another female reporter.

"Do you regret your decision?" asked a male reporter, his camera along with others zoomed in on the man.

"You have a cop here, are you under arrest for the murder? Will you be in that woman's old cell?" asked the first female reporter.

Was she seriously asking that? Did this woman not have a lick of common sense?

Kai turned to Mr. Dickenson and said, "I need to go check on Joe and a little boy. Will you take care of this for me please?"

Stanley nodded and once Kai was back inside, he closed the door behind him.

At the table, Gou was rereading over the document to make double-sure that he understood everything it contained. Once he heard his dad come back downstairs, he bolted up to him, pen and paper in hand.

"You have my permission,"

Kai gave his son a big hug and signed the paper, and then he showed Gou where to sign below his signature, pleased that he knew some cursive writing.

While heading over to the mob outside, he ruffled his hair affectionately and watched as his boy went into the kitchen for something to drink. Stepping into the mass, Kai chewed over an important question. Once this all blew over he'd ask the kids. For now, he'd just take the days ahead of them one event at a time.

To Be Continued...