Chapter Thirty-Four: Misfortune and Waffle Irons, 不幸和蛋奶烘餅烤模

A.N: Wowsers, no update for a while, yeah? Sorry, I've had tons of crap I needed to get done. I have to say that I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Well, I guess that's it, so…Enjoy! AXM

Storm clouds blocked the sunlight from waking me…if I had been sleeping, of course. Every time I closed my eyes, the vision of Ryou and Lettuce…I had to bang my head on the wall repetitively to get that image out of my head. Why did I have such a bad sense of timing? I knew that it would be awkward when I went downstairs for breakfast and saw either Ryou or Lettuce. I couldn't chase away the reoccurring thought I kept having every time I saw the image: Would me and Kiyoshi ever get that close? What if he has to leave to follow Ronin? The thought never came up, but now that it did, tears welled up in my eyes. I sniffed and wiped away the small line of salty liquid. If Ronin does leave, Kiyoshi would follow him…and I would be left alone again. I shook my head, took a soothing breath, and went downstairs for breakfast; not knowing if Ryou or Lettuce stood down there.

I tiptoed across the kitchen's tile floor and made myself a cold bowl of cereal. Kish sat at the table looking down curiously at Tart, who was hiding under the table.

"Um, should I ask?"

"He's hiding from Pudding. She won't leave him alone." Kish snickered as Tart shuddered at the mention of Pudding.

"TART! TART! WHERE ARE YOU?" Pudding called from the parlor. Tart balled up in the fetal position and trembled. I shook my head sadly.

"Be a good sport and say hello! What do you have to lose?" I nudged Tart with my foot. He glared up angrily.

"My air supply." Tart whispered. Pudding pushed open the kitchen door and looked around frantically.

"Have you guys seen Tart anywhere?" She asked, still looking around everywhere but under the table. Kish and I looked at each other and silently agreed to humour Tart a little longer.

"Nope." We both said in sync. ((Hahaha! 'In sync'! Haha…ha….okay I'll shut up now)) Pudding bit her lip and ran out of the kitchen continuing her cries. Tart clambered out from under the table with a look of relieved gratitude to us.

"Thanks." He breathed. Kish tapped his chin for a moment then smiled evilly.

"Heheh, now I have something to threaten you with!" Tart's eyes widened in horror.

"You wouldn't…" he squinted. I waved my hand and crunched down on another spoonful of stale cereal. Kish stared around the kitchen for a while and gave an evil smile when he saw the waffle iron lying farther down on the counter. He edged toward it and pressed the 'On' button. I hopped up and sped out of my chair.

"Where are you going?" Tart asked.

"I'd rather hear his scream than see him in the act." I called behind me, ignoring Tart's confused "Huh?".

"Five, four, three, two..." I counted.

"YAAAAHHHHHH!" Kish's cry of anguish came from the kitchen.

"One." I grinned. Nothing like someone else's expense to set off the day right. Kish's cries drew Ryou and Lettuce out of their rooms to come investigate. They stumbled in, their eyes wide.

"What on Earth is that?" Ryou breathed, his right arm ensnaring Lettuce's waist. Trying my best to ignore the unwanted snippets of memory that flashed through my head, I put on an entertained grin and pointed to the kitchen.

"Kish discovered the joys of playing with waffle irons."

Ryou's concern dropped from his face. "Oh." Lettuce grabbed him into a playful hug.

"Let's go check on him, just in case. I'm hungry anyways." Ryou nodded lovingly and pulled her along with him to the kitchen. I smacked myself in the head a few times to drive out the flashes of scarring memory. Ugh… I need to focus on Ronin and Yuri, nothing else. Maybe I can get Kiyoshi to help me start looking for their lair. He would have to; I didn't know how to look for it except that it was shrouded in darkness. And even if I did find one, it would probably end up being one of the fake lairs anyway. …Where was Kiyoshi anyway? If I'm lucky maybe he's lurking out on the balcony again. If not, I guess I'll just have to… sit and wait. I ran back up to my room, eagerly glancing at the balcony for any signs of a shadow skulking outside. I slumped down on my bed still analyzing the balcony, not seeing any signs of Kiyoshi. Dang…and I was so ready, too…Maybe I'll just go out on the balcony and wait for him. I pulled myself up with a grunt and flung open the doors to the balcony. The morning had a slight chill to it that was countered by the rising intensity of the ascending sun. Still, Kiyoshi's presence was missing from the stone banister I had seen him lean on so many times, turn to me, and flash me a brilliant grin…or more recently, a scowl. I wonder if he's still mad at me…No, no, of course not; I already said I was sorry and he forgave me… No, he can't be mad at me. …Somehow it still felt like it was my fault that he wasn't there waiting for me, no matter what I tried to tell myself.

"Who am I kidding? He's probably still mad; I know I would be if I were him." I whispered to myself.

"Look up here." Kiyoshi's voice came from the overhang above. I jumped onto its edge and towed myself up to Kiyoshi, who had his back turned to me.

"Whoo! Hey, I didn't know you came up here. How long have you been out here, anyways?" I asked, taking a seat next to him. He stared off blankly in the distance, pressing his mouth into a thin line.

"Kiyoshi?" He continued to stare ahead and refused to acknowledge my words. I placed my hand lightly on his shoulder; he brushed it away.

"I thought you weren't mad anymore." I said, more to myself than him. He finally looked at me: he wasn't smiling.

"It's just that…" he sighed, "You want to get out and beat Ronin quickly so you can have your regular life back. But what if you spend your entire life trying and trying? You don't take time to stop and enjoy things as they are. Last night for example…"

He stopped himself and took back to staring the other way.

"Kiyoshi, please. You have to understand; we're just so close, I know it. I don't want to blow it all just because of some stupid school dance." I replied curtly. His brow furrowed and his face contorted with anger and frustration.

"It may not have been important to you, but I spent forever trying to make everything perfect! To you it might have been some 'stupid dance', but to me it was just one more night that I could spend with you and not have to worry about anything!" Kiyoshi bellowed and stood to look down on me with disgust.

"But I thought you said that you weren't mad at me!" I protested.

"And now I am." Kiyoshi's wings materialized and fluttered angrily as he approached closer to the edge.

"No, please don't leave!" I called after him.

"Why? ...Oh, right, I have to help you find Ronin and fight him. Heh, well have fun with that." Kiyoshi said before jumping off the roof and soaring away.

"Yes! You have to help! Come back! Kiyoshi…" I called pitifully. But it was just like that and he was gone, with nothing bringing me back to reality except the morning's chill and the sun's steady rise.