Disclaimer: I don't own the original FY characters; I own Kei, Taki, Lily, Jason, their kids and any other person who isn't a FY character.
Thoughts
Memories
~*~Review Response~*~
~Jamie - Hmmm, not sure if I have anything to say…I think it's all been said in e-mails. Your obsession with Hiroshi is a tad frightening. I hate to see how you react when the story's all over. You're going to go into withdrawal, aren't you?
~Cat - Reizo is acting a bit stupid right now yes. I suppose that could be attributed to one of two things. Either consider that he's alone in the real world, not really knowing much about it and not having anyone to help him get used to it or that I'm not being very careful in planning chapters. The first one sounds better to me. ^_^ And you don't talk to much. I appreciate everything that anyone has to say to me.
~Cortney - Eep! French! I don't understand any French! I had to get one of my friends to translate it for me. And Kano will always kick Reizo's butt. You can count on that. ^_^
~RekkaShinen1 - I inspired you? Really? I never thought I was very inspiring. If I can fine the time, I'll see if I can check out your stuff.
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Kano nudged Kimiko as the car stopped. "You can breathe you know…"
She climbed out of the car after him. "No, I can't. Do you know how many way this can go wrong?"
"Five thousand, four hundred and sixty eight?" He grinned.
"Ha. Ha." She grumbled. "I'm serious."
"Just relax. It'll be fine. Your brother can possibly be so thick headed as to wreak havoc on your mother's date with a guy she really seems to like. And you're here too. I don't think he wants a busted jaw."
"That's true…" She smiled. "I…I guess you're right."
There was an awkward moment of silence when everyone first stepped into the restaurant. Akira and Kouji had their first chance to look at each other face to face.
"Nice to meet you Akira." Kouji offered his hand to the stoic teen.
"Yeah…you too." Akira reluctantly shook hands with Kouji.
"Well…should we go sit?" Tora offered.
Everyone nodded and went to a round table near a window. Akira sat in between his mother and sister, Kano sat next to Kimiko and Kouji sat next to Tora.
"So Kouji…how long are you and your son going to be in Japan?" Akira looked at him.
Kano took slight offense to the way Akira almost referred to him as younger. Kano knew he was older by a year and for the first time since he'd been faking his age did he want to say something about it.
"Another week or so."
"I see."
Kimiko gave Akira a sharp kick in the ankle. "Wanna be a little more frigid?" She hissed at him.
He rubbed his ankle with his other foot but said nothing.
Tora bit her lip. 'Maybe this wasn't a great idea…'
Kouji brushed his hand against hers under the table and gave her an understanding smile. She smiled back, thankful Kouji offended by Akira.
"So Kano, how's the basketball team?" Kimiko asked happily, hoping to change the subject really quickly and hoping to play on Akira's jock side. Sports always made him a little friendlier.
"You play?" Akira looked a little more interested.
"Yeah. Team's okay I guess. We have a game tomorrow…guess we'll know for sure then." He shrugged.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Akane anxiously tapped her finger on her desk. No force on Earth could get her to concentrate on her homework. She was bothered by something else.
She fidgeted with a pen for about five minutes before letting out a disgusted sigh and dropped her history book on the floor. She got up from her desk and left her room to go down to the kitchen.
Kei was the only other person home at the moment and heard Akane stomp down the stairs and go into the kitchen. She entered and found her daughter rummaging through the fridge.
"Something wrong?"
"No." She pulled out a various assortment of food from the fridge and closed the door. "Should something be?"
"You only stomp down the stairs and pull half the fridge out when something's wrong."
"I do not." She put the stack of food on the table and started assembling little cracker sandwiches.
"What's wrong?" Kei sat with Akane and watched her eat.
Akane let out another sigh. "I don't know…something feels wrong but I can't pick it out." She put down the food. "Maybe I'm just going nuts."
"What makes you think something's wrong?"
"Well…a little while after Kano and Kouji left…I got this feeling in the pit of my stomach…it's just been sitting there ever since. It won't go away. I feel like something's going to happen to Kano."
"I see…"
"You think I'm nuts, don't you?"
"Akane, how could I think you're nuts? I had another person living in my head for 20 years. Come on." Kei leaned back in her chair. "You've always had good instincts. Maybe the pure fact that Kano, Kouji and Akira will be eating dinner together has you on the edge. But then…with Reizo around…something could happen."
"So what should I do?"
"Nothing you can do. I would try not to worry. Kimiko's a goddess, Kano's a seishi and Kouji's still a damn good fighter. They can take care of themselves. In addition to that, I don't think Suzaku would let Reizo lay a hand on his wife and Nakago's out and about stopping Reizo from wreaking mass chaos."
Akane crunched one of the sandwiches thoughtfully. "Maybe…thanks Mom." Akane picked up most of the food from the table.
"Any time dear." Kei smiled as Akane carried her food back up to her room, looking slightly more relaxed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kimiko smiled to herself as she ate her dinner. By some miracle, Akira was actually warming up to Kouji. She could tell he wasn't being totally warm, but it was certainly better than she expected.
Conversations carried on quiet easily. They were acting almost like, dare I say it, a family?
At one point in the evening, a band started playing and Kouji and Tora went to go dance, leaving the teenagers alone at the table. Kimiko excused herself to go to the bathroom. Now Kano and Akira were stuck alone.
Kano fidgeted with his earring. Akira stared off into space. Neither one was exactly willing to start a conversation.
Akira finally broke the silence. "How okay with it were you when your dad said he was going out with my mom?"
Kano slouched in his seat. "Not very…but…I got over it. I don't mind anymore…"
"What made you change your mind?"
"I dunno…seeing how happy my dad was around your mom…thinking about how for pretty much all of my life, my dad raised me on his own and loved a woman who didn't really feel the same way…" He stared at the ceiling. "It seemed kinda right I guess…"
Akira silently nodded. "I guess it does…"
"Talking to people never hurts either…you can see stuff from someone else's point of view. You can't always trust your own eyes."
"Yeah…you're right…" He sighed. "I'm sorry I was so cold…I guess all this didn't make too much sense until now…"
"I understand…it's not easy seeing your parents with other people…you…you get that whole 'the world's against me' feeling and nothing seems right…"
They stayed silent for a while, watching their parents dance. Akira saw his mother smiling, truly smiling, not the fake smile she'd used since Rei died.
"You guys ever coming back here?"
"Hope so. I like it more here…"
"You want to stay with Akane." Akira smirked.
"Yeah…" He smiled absently. "How'd you know about that?"
"How do you think?" Akira smiled and nodded towards his sister who was coming back to the table.
Kano chuckled softly. "Shoulda figured."
"What's so funny?" Kimiko say back down between the boys.
"Nothin'." They both smiled.
Kimiko wanted to pry further, but decided not to. They were getting along and that was what mattered.
Tora leaned her head on Kouji's shoulder. "Kouji?"
"Yeah?"
"What's your world like?"
"My…world?" He looked at her in confusion, wondering if she meant the book or whatever country he was pretending to be from.
"Yes. Inside that book." She smiled when he gave her a look of pure shock. "Don't look so confused. I know who my husband was. I know who my daughter is. I got her to tell me about the world in the book."
"So you do know…"
"Yeah…"
"I suppose it's better that way…I felt like I was hiding too much from you."
"So are you going to tell me?"
"Guess I don't really have a choice, do I?" He smiled and held her close. "My world is…well, it's okay I guess…" He told her stories of what he'd seen and been part of in his life. She found the stories amazing and listened intently to every word.
Back at the table, the teens were having a nice conversation when a phone rang. Kimiko eyed her brother. "That's yours isn't it?"
"Oops." He replied sheepishly and answered the phone. Kimiko gave him a dirty look. Kano smiled.
After a few minutes on the phone he hung up. "So what was that about?" She rolled her eyes.
"I uh…gotta go…" He slipped it back into his pocket.
"What do you mean you have to go?"
"I got school work to do with my group."
"Didn't Mom say not to make plans for tonight?"
"I didn't intend on leaving. But now my ever so helpless group needs help. I knew I'd end up doing the damn project on my own."
Kimiko sighed. "Well, okay…"
"Sorry." He offered his hand to Kano. "It was…nice meeting you and your dad…"
"Nice meeting you too." Kano shook hands with him.
"Later." He left the restaurant.
Once he was out of sight, Kimiko slumped in her chair. "Phew…"
"It wasn't that bad."
"I was worried he was gonna be an ass again."
"Worrying or hoping? If he had, you coulda busted his jaw again."
"Shut up you moron." She stuck her tongue out at him.
He grinned.
Kouji and Tora returned to the table. "Where'd Akira go?"
"He had to run off and do something for school. He said he was sorry though." Kimiko rolled her eyes.
"Well, I suppose this didn't go as bad as I thought it would." Tora smiled.
Kano started to smile when something caught his attention. His eyes narrowed when he thought he saw a gray eyed, blonde man across the room.
"What's the matter Kano?" Kouji looked at him.
"N…nothing…" He shook his head and picked up his drink.
Kano nearly fell off his chair when the others told him Tora knew just about everything about Konan.
After dinner, everyone left the restaurant and headed to the car.
"So Mom, do you think Akira will ever agree to do this again?" Kimiko asked happily.
Tora didn't answer though. Kimiko whipped her head around and saw something that made her freeze. The boys turned around as well and were shocked by what they saw.
Tora was standing, looking almost annoyed, with Reizo holding her, one hand over her mouth and the other holding her arms.
"You…you get your hands off my mother you bastard!" She hissed.
"And why would I do that?"
"If you don't, I'll blow your head off!" She felt her power flowing to her hands. It was hot. It burned. But it felt good knowing she could kill him if he harmed her mother. The soft red glow around her hands got brighter as her rage grew.
"How good is your aim, little goddess?" Reizo dragged Tora to the side so that her entire body was in front of his.
"This is a new low, even for you…" Kano spat.
Tora looked over at Kouji. The older bandit hadn't moved, neither had she. Her eyes betrayed no emotion. She wasn't afraid of Reizo.
"Let go of my mother." Kimiko hissed.
"Kimiko, calm down. It'll be fine." Tora's voice was very level.
"You are acting awfully brave even if you are terrified. I can feel you trembling." Reizo whispered to her.
Again, no sound came from Tora. Unseen to Reizo, she balled her right fist. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, she whipped around and punched him in the side of the face.
Kouji smiled. Kimiko and Kano's jaws dropped. Reizo was knocked over by the force of Tora punch. Tora straightened out her shirt and looked at them.
"What? Can't I defend myself?" She smiled.
"Wow." Kano looked a little dumbfounded.
Kimiko began to walk towards Reizo. Tora grabbed her arm. "Kimiko, don't. This isn't the time or place to fight."
"But!"
"Kimiko…"
"Alright…" Kimiko frowned, but followed her mother.
The small group left Reizo on his back in the parking lot. Once they were gone, a man coming out of the restaurant noticed Reizo lying there.
"Hey man, are you okay?" He bent over the blonde man.
Reizo merely growled and pushed himself up. He hadn't anticipated Tora being that strong. He stalked off, leaving the helpful man rather confused.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kano went upstairs while Kouji, Tora and Kimiko stayed downstairs and talked with Akane's parents.
Akane was coming out of the shower when she saw Kano. "You're back! How'd it go?" She ran up to him and kissed him on the cheek.
"Well, it didn't too bad with Akira…he's a little more receptive to the idea of Tora dating but…"
"Something else went wrong?"
"Reizo…he…he showed up while we were leaving…"
Akane paled slightly. "I knew something was going to go wrong! Is everyone okay?"
"Yeah. Tora kinda knocked him out in one hit."
"Really? Wow."
"That's what I said."
"I'm impressed."
"Yeah." He shrugged. "I guess you can't be married to a god and not learn something."
"I guess." She smiled.
They walked over to the railing where they could see Tora and Kouji in the living room alone. Kei and Tasuki had gone back into the living room and Kimiko was going back out to the car.
They couldn't hear anything the adults were saying to each other, but they both smiled when Kouji and Tora shared another kiss.
"Think you'll be calling her your step mom?" She looked up at him thoughtfully.
He shrugged. "Hard to say…I mean…I don't care really…whatever happens, happens but I'm not sure anything can happen. We only have one more week here…"
Akane bit her lip. "Don't say 'only'. I don't like the way it sounds."
Kano wrapped one arm around her shoulders. "It'll be okay…we'll be together somehow."
"I know."
They snickered when they heard a car horn that jolted the two adults apart. Kimiko wasn't the most patient person ever.
So they said their good byes and Tora left.
Kouji was headed upstairs and passed by Akane and Kano.
"Lady killer." Kano snickered. Akane nudged Kano with her elbow.
Kouji gave him a look, but smiled.
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Woo, sorry that took so long. Inspiration and time have been sorely lacking. This weekend I'm going to Homecoming with a bunch of friends and my boyfriend so I wanted to get it out before then.
~*~Shadow Hawk~*~