Chapter 19: Returning To A Familiar Place
This is my first really light chapter for this story... till you get to the last couple paragraphs. It's more on the calm and funny side.
Hiro was continuing to hit Kyo over and over again, his eyes closed as he does so. "GIVE ME MY TEARS BACK! YOU STOLE THEM FROM ME! YOU IDIOT!" He yells recklessly, throwing his arms around wildly. At the sound of this many-times-used-line, Momiji burst out laughing, rolling around uncontrollably at Kyo's reaction to whatever Hiro says.
"Get this damn monkey off me!"
"NOT A MONKEY! RAM! I'M A RAM!" Hiro exclaims, starting to strangle Kyo once again.
Kyo groans and merely lifts up the rage-full Hiro, and sets him down beside him. Getting to his feet, Kyo sighs and looks around the room to find Yuki hiding a chuckle and Haru laughing with Momiji without a care in the world. Are they that dumb? I'm staring right at them… he says to himself through his safeguarded thoughts. Slowly, Kyo walks past Hiro and back to Tohru, and looks down at her. "I'm… going to go for a walk… See you later I guess…" he mumbles and turns just after he finishes his sentence and walks towards the front door of the house.
Without another word, he slides it open and exits, slamming it closed behind him, startling everyone in the house. Kyo walks down the all too familiar winding path with his hands in his pockets as deep as they could go. "Why is Akito singling me out…. What's she have against me other then the fact that I'm a 'monster.'?" He laughs softly at his own questioning, "I guess I just answered my own questions didn't I?" Kyo asks himself yet another question, only to already know the answer to it. Suddenly, he finds himself walking onto Shishou's property without a care about being yelled at or anything. What surprised him though, was the fact that the dojo was being built, and from the looks of it, it was going to be bigger then the one that was recently burnt down by none other then Akito and her devious little followers. Kyo smiles at the dojo proudly but then sighs remembering how many memories were burnt down with the original dojo. The burn on the wall in the kitchen. The room he used to sleep in. The area he and Kazuma-dono trained. "I hate Akito…" he mutters angrily under his breath as those many memories crossed his thoughts.
"As do I…" a proverbial voice speaks, coming from behind Kyo. "It hasn't been too long since I last saw you, Kyo…"
Kyo spins around and a bright smile appears on his face. "Shishou…" he whispers out of relief and as if sensing the question that was probably lodged in his throat, he says, "It didn't take me long to escape my confinement…" Kazuma nods noticeably and as he opens his mouth, Kyo continues on, "I'm sorry for cutting you off…but… you have to be careful. Akito… she's feeding lies to everyone. She told Momiji and Hiro that she killed me and they came to Shigure's house in hysterics," he groans and rubs his forehead, "and Hiro tried bashing my skull in…" he mutters in embarrassment.
Shishou laughs softly and places his hand on Kyo's head; he messes his hair up and then puts his hands at his hips. "You came here again just to say that?" he inquires, obviously as some sort of joke. A regular smile pops onto Kazuma's face and he tilts his head ever so slightly to the right. Only seconds later, he straightens up and looks at Kyo, his face more stern now. "What did you do while you were restrained by that building and Akito? Did she do anything to you?"
He blinks at his sensei and sighs a little. "She and Kureno beat me a couple times, usually at night when I was attempting to sleep, but… that stopped after Rin's death. I escaped a couple days after…" Kyo explains embarrassingly once more. He was uncomfortable discussing how they had tortured him while he was unaware and in complete darkness. It was as if he were personally telling Kazuma-dono that he hadn't learned anything and wasn't able to sense danger in his sleep as much as he could while awake. "Shishou… what does Akito have against me and… well … What's she using to get to all of us? Some kind of magical crap?" he exclaims, demanding answers as if he were positive his sensei knew the correct responses to all the questions in the world.
Kazuma-dono smiles as always and replies gently, "Akito has something against everyone. But, the most against you. See, Kyo, you love Tohru-kun and that's that right? Well she doesn't even want a -what's she call u- monster leaving her side. I suppose she sees you as more power for her if she were to get you to stay at her side," then he shrugs. Kyo stares at him, hoping that he will answer the second question. He blinks and then says, "Ah..." just now remembering the other inquiry. "She must be using something that is fairly well-known if she's able to get near you…" Kazuma then sighs, not being able to come up with something that could even pose as a valid response.
Kyo grins under a shadow and glances at Shishou. "Your responses… are the equivalent of Shigure trying to be persuasive…"
He smiles at Kyo and pats him on the head as if he were a little child. "Go on inside the new dojo. Nothing'll fall on you or anything. The main structures done…" the same peaceful smile as always was practically glued to his face after he paused, "Kunimitsu and Kagura are just through the door. I think they'll be happy to see you and wonder how you're doing." Kazuma-dono places his hand on the side of Kyo's head and taps his cheek lightly. His 'son' groans and walks past him, looking at the ground in even more embarrassment then in previous minutes.
Trudging to the front door like he was slicing through a rain forest, Kyo stops at the door and gradually slides it open with care. As he walks in, he looks around to recognize the structure of the building as familiar.
Kagura walks up to him and smiles, blinking as if she were seeing things. "Kunimitsu!" She cries out loudly, almost in fright. He comes running and looks at her in concern then glances at Kyo to create the same reaction she formerly made. "Kunimitsu! A mirage! Its… it's a construction mirage of Kyo-kun!" she runs to the mirage and hugs it tightly out of excitement. "Mirage-san! I'm so happy you're pretending to be Kyo-kun! I feel so bad for him! HE NEVER CALLS!" She grabs the mirage by the arm and starts twirling it around rapidly in the air, slamming him against a few firm walls only to make a few droplets of dust drop to the ground, no harm to the structure.
Sighing a little, Kunimitsu walks to the fallen Kyo mirage and looks down at him. "Kagura-chan… don't you think if he were a mirage he wouldn't have been yelling when you were throwing him around. Did you even realize that you were able to grab and touch him? Isn't a mirage an illusion and not graspable?" he says with a smirk as he looks down at Kyo, even though he was really speaking to Kagura. He extends his hand to Kyo and pulls him by the arm until he was on his feet. "How've you been Kyo?" Kunimitsu asks, letting Kagura think about the many inquires he had asked her.
Kyo rubs his newly sore arm and looks at Kunimitsu. "I've been… just fine…" he mutters, not exactly answering truthfully. Glancing around carefully, Kyo sees the finished hallways -where the bedrooms were located- and walks towards it, the ground slightly squeaking at him as if to tell him its in pain and that it wants him off it's wooden back. Walking into the room he remembered was his, Kyo runs his fingers against the walls and he approaches a window just to stare out it with the sense of monotony. In truth, Kyo was taking to thought the times he had spent here, watching everyone else train or while he played with Kagura during their breaks. "You really…. built this back to the way we all remember…huh?" He asks, trying not to show his true love for the original dojo. He loved the memories that uncovered themselves there.
With a gentle and fun-loving smile, Kunimitsu replies cheerfully, but clearly drained, "Yep. Every inch of this place will look the same. We've spent enough time here to know what each inch looks like, y'know what I mean Kyo?" Kunimitsu laughs, it was obvious that Kyo didn't know what he meant at all. "Ah... haha… Well…" he pauses to reflect, more then likely it was really used to annoy Kyo a little more then he already was, "the day we finished the kitchen, Shishou went to cook and…" Kyo slaps his head even before Kunimitsu finishes his little tale. He couldn't help but laugh at Kyo's actions, yet he was able to continue on, "Well… as he was cooking… he burned the same spot he did a while ago. Y'know the one that scared our little Kyo…" Kunimitsu says teasingly, rubbing Kyo's head leaving his hair screwed up.
Grunting, Kyo shoves past Kunimitsu –who was still laughing- and walks out of the room he used to sleep in safely. Eventually he ends up in the kitchen and sits down at the new table and hand carved chairs with crests of the dojo on the legs and the back of the chair, so when you pull the chair out from being pushed in your finger runs across the crest.
Kazuma-dono and Kagura come in and sit with Kyo at the table. "Kyo-kun…" a gentle voice says softly. Kyo shutters hearing his name come from the being that had swung him around the dojo. "It is you! You shook when you heard me call you!" Kagura giggles and gets up from her chair and –peacefully- hugs him lovingly. "How did you get out? Did you escape? Did someone help you? If someone did, give me his or her names! I'm going to thank them till they die!" She shouts happily, hugging him tighter and tighter each time she realizes that he's free, which, was a lot.
He chokes out the words; "I think … you'll kill them with your joy before… you kill… them with thanks…" Kyo pulls her away from him and gasps for air. He rubs his throat and glares at Kagura. "I told you to stop hugging me!" he exclaims, jumping to his feet and slamming his hands onto the table. Her lips begin to quiver and she looks down after having Kyo shout at her. Kyo crosses his arms and turns his back on her, almost tripping over the chair. "Don't cry… Baby…" he mumbles out as much.
Kagura rubs her eyes and glares at Kyo. She gets up and tackles him, swinging her fists recklessly around, hitting him many more times then once.
Shishou smiles at this and relaxes at the table. "Ah… the sound of my possible predecessors growing… its… so familiar… it's quite annoying actually…" he whispers to himself and glances at them from the corner of his eyes. "Her parents will have my neck if they find out she attacked Kyo again and Tohru and Yuki will say something, probably not toward me." Kazuma-dono sighs and rubs his forehead. "I'm thinking far too much for a person who thinks they're relaxing," only moments after he said that, the phone rang making him jump to his feet and scurry to it to hurriedly pick it up and say, "Hello."
Kagura turns her head, her hands full of Kyo's hair as she sits on his stomach. On the other hand, Kyo was utterly knocked out and appeared to have little swirls around his eyes. While he was unconscious, Kagura listened to several 'Uh-huh's, 'Yeah, sure's and also, 'Why?'s. Yet, she had not one clue what they were talking about. "Why don't we have a cat or a dog present…" she whispers under her breath and then looks at Kyo. Her eyes grow large and she falls forward on top of him, hugging and cradling him. "Ohhh Kyo! Who did this to you!" She exclaims only to see Kazuma look at her and chuckle. "I'm so sorry Kyo-kun…" Kagura says after looking back at Kyo.
The phone is hung up in the background and Kagura turns around to see Shishou trying to sneak out of the kitchen unheard. "Where are you going Shishou?" she questions, getting off of Kyo and walking towards her long-time trainer.
He struggles to find the correct words and then sighs. "Look…to be totally honest, I have not one clue what's going on. But, Akito wants me to come over for something, and… as much as I hate her, I must concur," Kazuma-dono says, honesty flowing through his words.
Kagura sighs and whimpers, "B-but… We don't want Akito-san hurting you… like… you know… like she hurt I-I-I…" she stutters and bursts into tears after the memories of Rin living with her and her family return.
Kunimitsu comes into the kitchen and nods at Shishou, taking Kagura to the side and hugging her. Instantly she became a boar and wriggled around in his arms. "Calm down Kagura-chan. Look… stop crying. It's okay, alright? Isuzu-chan is in a better place right? And from there… she can watch over you and make sure the same thing doesn't happen to you," as he was saying this to calm her, Kazuma slipped out every possible door to reach the outside quietly, and left the property.
Regaining consciousness, Kyo pulls himself to his feet staggeringly and looks at Kagura in Kunimitsu's arms. "What happened?" He asks out of confusion.
"Sensei went out to see Akito-san and Kagura got upset because of…" he pauses and then whispers really softly, "Isuzu-chan's death…" Kunimitsu sighs and nods after saying that.
Kyo sighs as well and then remembers the first thing he said. "Sensei went out to see Akito-san…" No… Please… tell me he was kidding. I hate you Akito… if you do anything to him… I'll go there now… and kill you…
There's chapter 19 finally! And I sincerely apologize for not positing sooner. I haven't been able to get on the computer and I'm very sorry. I will try to get them typed and up quicker from now on though! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE R&R,lol.