4. Son.

T: A bit later than I said, I know, but real life kind of got to me! Apologising with some pictures of Orito (follow the link on my Bio) Warnings remain the same (Forgive another vague cliff hanger!) and I still own only the plot and my dear little Orito!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She had, for months, wished to meet the boy who could bring a change to her quieter son's demeanour simply for the mention of his name and thus she had all but cheered when Kamui had requested the chance to invite the other into their home.

She had also been a little swifter with her photo shoot in order that she might catch a glimpse of the boy before he returned to his family.

Now, faced with the reality of the situation she was in, she wished that she might have been able to restrain her enthusiasm a little.

For the boy before her can only be one and the same as the boy who her brother had met all of a week ago…

Can only be Seishiro's son.

She is aware that her fingers have begun to rub at the scaring upon her chest and though the nervous gesture unsettles her she can not quite bring herself to stop.

"Who is this then?" She enquires, her voice oddly distant even to her own ears.

"This is Sakurazuka Orito, mama." Kamui remarks, the enthusiasm in her voice as an unsettling reminder of the difficulty of her situation.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Sakurazuka-san." She has only to see the frown upon her husbands face to know that she has not kept the insincerity completely from her voice.

"If you will excuse me a moment…"

Kakyo is not far behind her and once the door to her studio has closed behind him he enquires,

"The surname was more than a coincidence, was it not?"

"Yes."

"What do you wish to do?"

"I do not know."

He pulls her into the warmth of his embrace and, her mind relaxing a little for the security his arms offer, she enquires,

"How does he seem to you?"

"Like any other boy his age and yet there is also a calmness to his demeanour that makes him seem as one more mature."

"I wonder if he has learned such a thing from his father or from his mother."

"I believe that he learned such a thing through their absence."

"What do you mean?"

"Kamui told us once that Orito-kun's mother died when he was still very young and that his father was often away from home."

She recalls the conversation the very moment her husband mentions it…recalls the pain that had been in her son's eyes as he had talked of the older boy's situation and the loneliness that the other must feel.

There are a thousand questions swimming now in her mind, questions she wishes to ask her husband in order to air them out and that are prevented from being voiced by a gentle knock upon the door and the tentative enquiry of,

"Is mama okay?"

"I'm fine; Kamui…work was a little more stressful that I believed it would be."

"We'll be with you in a moment, Kamui." Kakyo informs their son and then, his voice dropping to a whisper, he enquires, "Will you be okay, sweet?"

"I believe that I shall be, yes."

……………………………………………………………………………..

He and Kamui had long since fallen into the routine of spending every other lunch time away from one another and thus he is a little surprised to find the younger boy waiting for him amid the shade of the sakura.

"I thought that you were spending today with Fuuma."

"I am but mama asked me to give you this as way of apologising for being 'offish' yesterday." The lad passes him a rather large box and, a reluctant smile upon his lips, he remarks, "I'd best get back before 'nii-san worries too much."

Once the boy is gone he opens out the box and is met with a sizable container of home made biscuits, a packet of his father's favourite brand of cigarettes and two letters.

One is addressed to his father and he places it, along with the cigarettes, into his bag.

The other is addressed to himself and, weary still of a surprise; he opens it out and begins to read,

'Sakurazuka Orito-san,

Firstly I truly do wish to apologise for my demeanour yesterday…

You look so much like your father and, for the briefest of instants, that similarity caught me off guard.

I can see now that you are not quite as Sei-chan and thus I wished to clear the air between us and start again.

By this point you are most certainly wondering 'how does this woman know my father' and 'who was that man whom I met before'.

The man is, as I am sure you have deduced by now, my twin brother and it was through him that I initially came into your father's company.

As to the details of the year I spent with Sei-chan…as to the nature of the connection between he and my brother…

I am assured that Sei-chan has kept such things quite for a reason and I have no want to interfere with his decisions as a parent, thus I fear I am going to keep my silence.

I ask you to forgive me that choice and the frustration it must bring you and I had want to assure you that I have all but insisted that your father talk to you on this matter.

I ask also that, no matter what happens from today onwards, you trust to your friendship with my son…ask that you never let Kamui go.

Kizuki Hokuto.'

He is, despite the irritation of being kept still form the truth of this matter, smiling by the time he reaches the conclusion of the note; for there is something warming in the casual tone of her words and the gentle familiarity with which she refers to his father.

He re reads the note once he has finished his lunch and this time his eyes catch one particular sentence,

'As to the details of the year I spent with Sei-chan…'

It could not be coincidence that this previously unknown companion to his father had spent precisely the amount of time with hi as he had spent in his longest absence from Orito's life…

Could not mean anything other than that this woman had been with this father when he had lost his eyes…had played some roll in the dramatic change in the elder Sakurazuka's demeanour.

He is swamped by a sudden desire to open the letter addressed to his father…to have this mystery cleared away once and forever and yet…

He wishes also to discard the note…to erase away all evidence of ever coming into contact with this other.

: I will resist the urge to say 'I told you so'. : The Tree remarks, the monotone of its voice as the oddest of comforts.

"What do I do, Tree-san?"

: There is no choice now but to follow this thing through and let things go as they will. :

"In other words I should prepare for the worst?"

: And hope for the best, yes. :

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

T: If you think this cliff hanger is bad wait for the next one! (which should be out Tuesday at the latest) R+R please as every comment bad or good helps me get better!