It was boring.

Hajime had visited the main house in the Sohma estate every year for as long as he could remember. It was fine for the kids. Akito and Mom would talk, and fuss over Mitsue. Kenji and Shiki would toddle off to play on their own. Usually when he came here, Mutsuki was here too, so he'd have someone to talk to.

This time, Mutsuki was not here.

And Hajime was really, really bored. So when he saw his father leaving without telling anyone, he decided that was probably much more fun.

Hajime followed him to the entrance. "Where are you going, Dad?"

Kyo put on his shoes without turning around. "Out."

"Can I come with you?"

"No." He cleared his throat. "Sorry. I have an errand to run, but I have to do it alone."

"But it's so boring."

"Again, sorry, but no. You might get hurt, and I can't risk that."

"What are you doing?"

Kyo finished tying his shoelaces. "There's someone I need to talk to."

"Who?"

"It doesn't matter, just… please stop asking to come with me. And I want you to promise not to follow me."

"But…"

"Promise me."

"...I promise."

"Good boy." Kyo gave him a lopsided grin and tousled his hair. "I won't be gone long. We'll do something fun afterwards, okay?"

"All right."

When Hajime asked his Mom what his Dad was doing, she declined to tell him. "That's your father's story to tell, not mine."

Kyo wasn't smiling when he got back to the house. Hajime had a strong impression that he shouldn't say anything about it.

He caught his Dad's eye. He motioned for Hajime to come closer.

When he was next to him, Kyo picked him up and hugged him. "You're a good son, Hajime," he said quietly.

In subsequent visits, Hajime was watchful. He noticed when his Dad quietly left the group and disappeared for twenty or thirty minutes.

And he noticed that his Dad was always upset by the time he returned.

He was curious and concerned about what his Dad was doing. If it made him feel that bad, why do it? Was he being forced to something? When he shared that idea with his Mom, she smiled but said nothing.

"You listening to me?"

Hajime turned back around to Mutsuki. "Yeah. No. Sorry."

"What's up with you? Did you see something interesting?"

"I was just watching my Dad."

"Oh, his disappearing act you told me about. Have you figured out what he does?"

"No. Just that whatever it is, it really bothers him."

"Then let's follow him and find out."

"No! I promised not to!"

"But aren't there times when you should break a promise? At school, they told us that if someone's being bullied, we're supposed to tell a teacher even if we promised not to tell."

"Is someone bullying my Dad?" Hajime could hardly imagine daring to do that.

"Maybe, maybe not. But don't you think we should find out?"

This was a new concept to Hajime, but it made sense. Maybe there really were times when it was better to break a promise than to follow it. And maybe this was one of those times.

Tailing his Dad without being seen was harder than he thought it would be. The pathways in the Sohma estate were very wide and very straight. The options for ducking and hiding were limited.

He appeared to be walking towards the front gates. Wordlessly, they decided to hold back until he went through the gates, then get closer outside the estate, where there were probably more hiding places.

They watched as Kyo walked through the gates and turned left.

"Run!" Hajime said quietly. They tore after him, soon reaching the gates themselves. They slowed down and covered their mouths with their hands to muffle their breathing. Carefully, Hajime peeked around the corner.

"You're not exactly ninja, you two," Kyo said, arms folded.

Hajime's face flushed. He was unaccustomed to getting in trouble for disobedience. "I'm sorry!"

Kyo gently bonked his and Mutsuki's heads with his knuckles. "Shame."

Hajime looked to the ground. "We'll go back."

"No," Kyo sighed. "It's just as well. I should probably talk about it one of these days, anyways."

"Should I go back, Uncle?"

"Nah. Hajime's going to tell you all about it anyway, so what's the point?"

Hajime's red face wasn't going away. "I might not."

Kyo snorted. "How gullible do you think I am?"

Hajime was antsy. His Dad had promised he'd only be a few minutes inside the house, and that he should wait outside until he got back.

The thought of what must be inside the house made him feel sick. Hajime loved his Grandpa Kazuma, and he wished he could have met Grandma and Grandpa Honda and Grandma Sohma. But his remaining grandparent he didn't even like to think about. His Dad hadn't told stories about him often, but when he did, they were very serious, man-to-man discussions about what it was like to be hurt and be scared, and protecting the people he loved.

The fact that it was all so quiet bothered him. What he wanted to hear was his Dad yelling, demanding that the old man apologize for everything he had done. But there was no sound to be heard.

Finally, the front door opened, and his dad walked out slowly, eyes downcast. He smiled slightly when he saw Hajime and Mutsuki waiting for him.

"You were there so long, Dad!"

"It was barely five minutes. Hey, you mind if I do something?"

Hajime frowned. "What?"

"This." Kyo leant down and hugged both boys. "After being in there for any length of time, it's good to know that beautiful things exist in this world." He released them, and then reached a hand out to each. "Let's go back."

The three of them walked back to the house hand-in-hand.

"So, does he ask you to visit him?"

"No. Exactly the opposite, actually. Every time I go there, he tells me to leave and to never come back."

"But you do come back?"

"Yeah. Because he's not my boss. My boss is someone else."

As Hajime thought about it, Mutsuki laughed. "Your boss is Auntie Tohru, right?"

"You got it."

"Why go there at all, though?" Hajime asked quietly. "It makes you sad. So why?"

"That's a good question." Kyo sighed. "When I was around the same age as you two-maybe a few years older-I was really angry all the time. I hurt a lot of people. I made a lot of people hate me. But your Mom…" He squeezed Hajime's hand briefly. "...and your Dad…" He squeezed Mutsuki's hand. "They didn't give up on me. And Grandpa Kazuma, and some other people as well-no matter how often I screwed things up, they gave me another chance." Kyo smiled grimly. "My father isn't a good person at all. He hurt me a lot. He hurt my Mom even more. And now he's a sad, bitter old man, alone in a big empty house. Maybe that's what he deserves. But it could be that he needs someone who won't ever give up on him. So I won't."

Hajime felt like he wanted to hug his Dad again, but instead, they kept walking.

"But. Just because I'm not going to give up on him doesn't mean I'd tolerate him hurting anyone else. Please don't ever try to see him yourself. If he hurt your mother or one of you: well, there are some things that would make me give up on him."

Hajime nodded. "Okay."

"I won't either, Uncle Kyo!"

Kyo smiled silently at the boys.

Kyo lay down atop their bed as Tohru kneaded his shoulders. "We probably could have told him awhile ago. Hajime's a thoughtful kid."

"That's true." She rubbed the side of his neck. "I just hope he doesn't dwell on it too much. He doesn't need to take everyone's troubles on his own shoulders."

Kyo turned over underneath his wife and looked up to her. "If he takes after his mom at all, he'll definitely do that."

She tickled the sides of his torso, causing him to grin. "And if he takes after his dad, then he'll brood about it and not talk to anyone."

"What great models of mental health we are," he quipped.

She stopped tickling him. He looked worried. "Sorry, I know it was a joke, but…"

"No, Kyo, it's fine. I was just thinking. Those visits of yours. Do you think they're actually helping?"

"I don't know. After all this time, I've never heard him say anything like a kind word. I've never heard him call me by name."

"I see."

"But you know-every time I come to his house, he lets me inside. He doesn't stop me from talking to him. And that's something right?"

"I just don't want you to get hurt. If I'm going to support you, I need you to tell me if visiting him is too much for you. Don't ever hide your pain from me, okay?"

She leant down and kissed him. "And I love that you're not giving up. Even if it looks like it'll never help."

He reached up, and hugged her. "You never gave up. Following in your footsteps is the least I can do."

Author's notes:

"Kenji" and "Mitsue" are my names for Kyo and Tohru's unnamed son and daughter.

The original inspiration for this story was the fact that, after he confronted his biological father, he said that he'd come see him again.