For These Scars
~Chapter 6~
Written by: RinoaDestiny
King of Fighters, Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami, and Saisyu Kusanagi belong to SNK
Plans were being made and groundwork being set. First, his mom stopped by his room, dismissed his door guard, knocked, and asked if she could come in. He'd been expecting this for several days since he was barred from meeting his friends outside, so when Shizuka Kusanagi inquired as to his privacy, Kyo let her in. Closed the door behind her, sat on his bed, and then the conversation began in earnest. His mom wore a beautiful cotton kimono dyed the faintest shade of lavender.
Iori liked purple, which wasn't surprising and had a number of lavender shirts. Kyo thought they looked hideous, but the other man just ignored him and wore them anyway. When they were rivals, he swore the other did it on purpose to deliberately irritate him. After things between them changed, he teased Iori mercilessly about the shirts and also made a point to relegate them to the floor first. He remembered Yagami being amused about that before tackling him.
It was sobering knowing his father knew. He wondered where Yagami was.
His mom had swung his attention back to her, away from those memories and asked him without pretense, "Kyo, what's going on?"
It wasn't as if she didn't know. But she wanted to hear it from him.
So, he responded. "Did you ask Dad? Did he say?"
"Only that you and the last heir of the Yagami clan were up to no good. I guessed somewhat at the context, since he wouldn't say. Said it was disgraceful. I drew my own conclusions. Asked some of the other clan members and your uncle. Some only knew the barest details. Your uncle knows the whole of it and agrees with your father. Kyo, why?"
Here it was.
He grasped that simple question and dove down upon it, like a hawk to prey. "Because things are different now, Mom. It's not the same anymore. Not like before."
"Enough to make you fall for that man?"
Shizuka Kusanagi was never quiet and she never shied away from getting to the root of the matter. Looking at his mom's expression, Kyo saw she simply wanted the truth. An open sincerity, no judgment. Just wanted to hear it straight from him without embellishment, without fear, without lies.
"Things changed…somehow. Not sure when. Or how. But they did."
"And he felt the same?"
"Started with him, actually. I just got into his face about it. That's all."
"How long, Kyo?"
"Six months. A bit before that before he finally understood why he refused to kill me."
"And Yuki doesn't know, does she?" Simply asked, without accusation or harshness.
"No, she doesn't. It's not something I'd –"
"Not something you'd tell the girlfriend you knew since high school." Shizuka ran both palms over the surface of her kimono near her lap. "Do you still care for her, Kyo?"
"Yes."
"But you also care for that young man, don't you?"
"Yeah. In my own way."
"Kyo, you either love someone or you don't. I think you might love both but…it's not exactly fair to Yuki or to Iori Yagami, is it? To be divided like that."
"It wasn't like I –"
"I know, Kyo. Sometimes, it takes you by surprise. But you're stuck here, Kyo. You may need to choose."
"I don't want to hurt her."
"But you also don't want to leave Yagami behind, right?" His mother's expression softened. "Does that young man mean that much to you?"
"He's only followed me around since I was fifteen."
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah." Kyo sighed, brought his legs up and tucked them under him. "He does. We…understand each other. Rivals and all, before." He made an idle wave of his hand. "Kinda made it easier when it happened."
"Your history together."
"Yeah. We laugh about it now. Well, I do at least. Yagami has a...interesting sense of humor."
"He would. His life's been harder than yours." At that, he stared at his mother, surprised. "He is of the Yagami clan, Kyo. No mothers, fathers dead before the heir hits adulthood, a harsh upbringing, and out into the world alone. You've had it lucky compared to him. Don't think I'm unaware of that."
"You don't sound like you disapprove."
"You said it just happened?"
"At least that's what it felt like. I'm not even sure Yagami knows what happened."
"Well." His mother shook her head but a small smile graced her face. "This is certainly an interesting way to unite our clans."
"If only Dad could see it that way."
"He's for the clan. Our clan. You were never meant to take up with the rival clan's heir, after all. Probably gave him a shock." Shizuka stood, a fluid upward motion full of grace and poise. In her lavender kimono, it reminded Kyo of lilies swaying in the wind. "I'll have a talk with him. It may not convince him but he might reconsider some of his methods."
"He probably would," Kyo said, tone dry. "I think you're the only person he's scared of."
"Well…he has reasons to be."
Kyo laughed. It felt great doing so. "Thanks, Mom."
"Kyo…consider this carefully. You have two people at stake here. I wish it wasn't so complicated but…things happen, like you said. You may have to choose, so choose wisely."
"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"You know when I didn't come home after 1997?" He saw her nod. "Kagura-san, Yagami, and I went up against Orochi. Like our three clans in the past. Before we sealed Orochi off, Yagami's ancestor spoke to me. Told me to work with him, to save him from the mistake they made, and that the fault was entirely theirs. So I guess in this way, it's saving him from himself."
"Did you tell your father that?"
"Dad won't listen. Shut me down before I had the chance."
"I'll tweak his ear."
"Ha." Kyo chuckled. "I bet you will."
"You'll need to tell Yuki eventually, though. She needs to know, Kyo, if you want to be honest with her."
"I know." It was one of the things he dreaded. Seeing her plausible reaction…
"Take care of yourself, son. Keep your voice down, okay? Easier to sail through a storm by being calm than wrenching at the wheel. Ships sink that way, when you're in a panic. You're the heir, Kyo. There are ways to do this but not through force alone."
Kyo absorbed all she said, turning his mother's words this way and that. Shizuka Kusanagi was the brains behind their family and this was why. He offered her a small bow, only from the waist since he still sat on his bed, as acknowledgement of her wisdom. She opened his door, stepped through, closed it quietly and left.
It gave him time to think. To continue turning her words around, like a piece of glass held up to the light. One part played and another one to go. He had to make a choice, eventually. This much, he knew.
Just didn't know when it all became so complicated.
"Hey, Beni, Goro. Thanks for stopping by."
"Sounded important over the phone, man. So, what's up, Kyo?"
He sprung his second line of attack against his house imprisonment, phrasing it in such a way so that his friends didn't realize the cause behind it. "Since I've been stuck at home for a bit, has anyone bothered you about me?"
Benimaru frowned, brows creased in thought. "The only one who would've is Yagami."
"Has he? Bothered you, I mean. Gone around, asking?"
"Now that you mention it…that is odd. Hey, Daimon…you seen him prowling around lately?"
The bigger man shook his head.
"Haven't seen him in…I think about three weeks. Getting closer to four now. Normally, he'd be asking about you. About fighting you. Maybe he got sick or something. Why'd you want to know?"
Kyo shrugged. It was important to play it casual here. "Just wanted to make sure he wasn't giving you a hard time. You know how he can be."
"Yeah, we know. So, since we're here, what do you want to do? Besides talk?"
"What else? Let's spar. Haven't fought in a while."
"Okay, man. Sounds cool. Sounds good, big guy?" Kyo grinned as Benimaru addressed Goro, who nodded in assent. He moved off his bed and opened the door. Ignored the clansman standing in the hallway – the one his mother had dismissed when she came in to speak to him. Took them to the training hall behind the house. Made a mental note to just fight and relax for now. But he needed to get out and find Yagami, because what Benimaru and Goro confirmed didn't bode well. Yagami didn't just vanish like that.
Something had happened. And he intended to find out what.
His mother had said to approach this by other means than force.
Perhaps he could ask Benimaru and Goro to do a small favor for him. To bring him word if Yagami did happen to show up and inquire about him. Because then, at least he'd know the other man was still around. Was still alive.
He might be held here but he had his own networks.
He didn't even need to leave the house to get it started.
Stay calm and sail through the storm. He was trying. At least this was a beginning. A beginning to the end he intended to get to.