a/n: Just a quick note, I forgot to account for the years before Ushio's birth, so instead of a 5 year gap from 2003 to 2008, I will be operating under the assumption of the gap being about 8 years, 1 year for Tomoya and Nagisa when they were in school together, one year when Nagisa was in school by herself, another year approx for when they were married and Nagisa soon pregnant with Ushio, then the 5 year skip that occurs in After Story. This makes the date currently in the year 2011. Don't know if it will ever be important, just making sure of things. XP Anyways, enjoy.

Chapter 2: Utterly Confused

"So . . . Ushio tells me you have a boyfriend, Kyou-chan," suddenly said Nagisa. Kyou nearly tripped and fell flat on her face at Nagisa's words. She barely regained her balance enough to look back up at Nagisa as they walked down the street.

Nagisa had been the one who proposed they walk together to the kindergarten school, she saying the reason being was to "maintain a healthy friendship". Though, Kyou saw now that it was Nagisa's way of creating an opportunity to question her.

Kyou felt like growling and screaming but restrained herself from doing so, wanting to maintain a good image in front of her students, Ushio included who was riding in between them on Botan's back. "No . . . I don't have a boyfriend . . ." she growled, frustration poisoning her voice despite her best efforts to remain within control of her emotions. Her hands tightened into fists at her side.

Nagisa was taken aback by this news, too flustered to utter an apology. The two walked on in silence for a few minutes until Nagisa finally found her voice. "Who um . . . who is San-san, then?"

Kyou sighed, guessing that despite her denying it, Ushio's earlier guess of Kale being her boyfriend was relayed to Nagisa. Kids . . . most of the time Kyou loved them dearly, but it was at times like these when she really disliked them.

"Well his actual name is Saunders, Kale Saunders. He's our janitor at the school," informed Kyou, hoping to dispel any rumors that surrounded her. "Apparently, he was the one that washed Botan that day."

"Oh I see!" happily exclaimed Nagisa. "So he did it because he likes you," she grinned at Kyou, thinking she had it all figured out.

Kyou nearly face faulted when she heard those words, growing even more frustrated. "No, that's not the reason why!" The exclamation surprised Nagisa and Ushio, but not Botan, she being more than used to her master's outbursts. "He said it was because he really likes animals and that he hated seeing Botan so dirty." Nagisa nodded, accepting of her explanation. "Then to thank him for washing Botan I offered to treat him to lunch," Kyou continued on, "He had already brought his own lunch so we traded. That was all, a simple lunch, nothing more."

"Didn't you and San-san say you were going to have lunch together again today, though?" quietly asked Ushio.

Kyou sighed in a frustrated manner, if only Ushio would remember little details like that from class lessons. "Just because a guy and a girl are nice to each other doesn't always mean they are boyfriend and girlfriend," explained Kyou to Ushio.

The child merely gave her a confused look. Sighing, Kyou tried to think of another way to explain to her. "Hmm . . . let's see . . . alright, how about this," she mumbled, first to herself, then speaking properly to Ushio, "There are boys in your class, isn't there?"

Ushio nodded.

"And you're nice to them, right?" asked Kyou.

Again the response was a simple nod.

"You aren't any of their girlfriends are you?"

Ushio shook her head this time, with a look of what appeared to be disgust on her face, as if she was repulsed by the idea.

"You see what I'm trying to say now?"

Ushio looked upwards as she thought for a moment, and then looked back at her teacher as she nodded her head.

The kindergarten teacher sighed happily. With the one who had started that misconception now well-informed of the truth maybe the rumor would go away.

For a few minutes they all continued on in silence, merely enjoying the ambient noise and the familiar scenery. Even Botan, who was walking in between Kyou and Nagisa, didn't make many of her usual grunts and noises.

Ushio would occasionally bury her face in Botan's dark brown fur, enjoying the feel of the soft hairs on her face. She never failed to sit back up with a giggle, which in turn made Nagisa smile and even coaxed a grin or two from Kyou. It remained as such for a few minutes until Ushio unexpectedly tugged on one of Kyou's sleeves.

"What is it Ushio-chan?" asked Kyou, looking down at the child as she stopped walking. Ushio lifted one of her small hands, pointer finger extended at something ahead of them. "Isn't that San-San?" asked Ushio.

Kyou's eyes followed where the child was pointing, and saw the person was indeed Kale Saunders. He was a fair distance down the street, exiting out of an apartment door on the ground floor and then locking it. Looking up, Kale noticed a middle-aged woman watering some plants just outside one of the apartments close by. He turned to this woman and began conversing with her. Normally, their conversation would have been extremely difficult to hear from this distance, however the gentle breeze blowing their way carried the sound just enough so Kyou could hear.

"Good morning Nakamura-san," humbly greeted Kale as he bowed slightly. Surprisingly the woman didn't react to him at all, not even a slight glance in his direction. Kyou was confused, was the woman deaf? She didn't seem old enough to be losing her hearing.

"Nice weather we are having, isn't it?" said Kale, trying again to make conversation. Yet again the young man was met with silence, almost as if he were not even there. It was hard to tell from such a far distance but Kyou was sure that she saw Kale's shoulders slump in defeat.

"Well . . . farewell Nakamura-san," said Kale, walking down the street away from Kyou and her companions.

Kyou stood there, confused as to why someone would ignore such a kind person as Kale. Nagisa, Ushio, and Botan waited too, looking to Kyou in silence.

Suddenly the purple-haired woman stormed forward, feet pounding on the pavement.

"K-Kyou wait!" weakly protested Nagisa. Though she had not said anything to her Nagisa had enough experience with Kyou to predict what she was about to do.

Nagisa hated conflict and really didn't want Kyou to start anything, be it verbal or physical. However her words fell on deaf ears.

Kyou quickly closed the large distance between her and the middle-aged woman. "Hey you," said Kyou. Her tone of voice surprised even Kyou; she didn't realize just how upset she was by the rudeness of this woman.

Nakamura-san immediately turned her head looking straight at Kyou. "Oh, well good morning," she greeted sweetly. This surprised Kyou; she had expected the woman to be mean or secluded, which in her mind was the only other explanation then being deaf, which she obviously wasn't.

"May I ask you a question?" asked Kyou, her voice still tense.

Nakamura seemed to pick up on it, but her mood did not change to a defensive or angered one. Instead she maintained her sweetness. "By all means, miss . . .?" She let the sentence carry, indicating an inquiry to Kyou's name.

"Fujibayashi, Kyou Fujibayashi," she said quickly. "I wanted to ask you, why were you so rude to that young man?" she asked, cutting to the chase.

"Excuse me?" Nakamura frowned. Her sweetness suddenly seemed to disappear, being replaced by something that was unidentifiable for now.

"That young man who just tried to talk to you," Kyou huffed, pointing down the street at the receding form of Kale. She wasn't sure if Nakamura would be able to tell from this distance what the speck was she was pointing at, but Kyou couldn't help herself. For some reason she felt extremely frustrated. "He greeted you and everything and you didn't even give look at him."

Nakamura's eyes narrowed, her lips pursed as she glared at Kyou menacingly. "I do not wish to associate myself with such a . . . a . . . thing as that," spat Nakamura. The intense venom in her voice shocked Kyou, erasing any retorts the young woman may have thought of.

"Good day," growled Nakamura curtly. Turning to her apartment door, she opened it and then slammed it shut as she disappeared inside, the audible click of the lock resounding in the quiet air.

Kyou stood there for a moment, shock preventing her from taking any action. She finally snapped out of it when she heard a "Gof! Gof!" Looking to her side Kyou saw that Nagisa, Ushio, and Botan had joined her, looking to her with worried eyes. Kyou softly shook her head as she began again walking to the school.

"I don't get it . . ." mumbled Kyou. Though she had been speaking to herself, Nagisa responded.

"About the woman's reaction?" she softly inquired.

To this Kyou gave a slow nod. "Yeah . . . I know I haven't known Saunders for long but he seems like a really nice guy . . .he doesn't seem like the one who is capable of being mean to anyone . . . at least I don't think so . . ."

They walked on for a few moments in silence, until Nagisa spoke up, "Is Saunders-san a foreigner? His skin seemed awfully light."

"Yeah he is he said himself that he was originally from the United States . . . you think it might be because he's a foreigner?"

"Possibly," sighed Nagisa. "Racism is such a terrible thing . . ." Her voice trailed off as she looked down at the ground sadly. Kyou had to agree with Nagisa on this point, Racism seemed so pointless and saddening . . . .

A small voice suddenly pierced the thoughts of Kyou and Nagisa, "Mama?" piped up Ushio, she still riding on Botan's back. "What's um . . . what's racey-ism?"

Normally Kyou would have chuckled at such a cute mispronunciation but the oppressive mood still hung over her.

Nagisa looked down at Ushio as she came up with an explanation. "That's racism, Ushio," she corrected. "It means that some people don't like others just because they're from a different place. Like Saunders-san, he's not from Japan but is actually from a whole other country."

This explanation did not seem to sit well with Ushio, she looking utterly confused. "Why?" she simply asked.

"Why what?" asked Nagisa in return.

"Why does it matter if San-san is from somewhere else?" clarified Ushio.

"Unfortunately Ushio a lot of people seem to be afraid of anything that is different. Coming from a different home, being different . . . it makes people afraid, and being afraid makes them act mean." explained Nagisa, her tone of voice melancholy.

Beginning to understand, Ushio also seemed to begin to carry the sorrow of knowing that such a view was still present within today's society.

"We can help though," quickly said Kyou. Ushio looked up, her gaze inquiring as to what Kyou meant. "We can be different; we can act nice to Saunders-san no matter what. In time I'm sure people will see that he is just another human, not so different from us. We can do that, can't we?"

"Yep!" the child happily exclaimed, she being clearly cheered by Kyou's words. Botan voiced her approval too with a familiar grunt of, "Gof! Gof!" Kyou smiled, as did Nagisa, all four of them continuing their walk to school, now happy again.

They chatted together and although Kyou had a bright smile on her face, deep down she felt worried, but wasn't entirely sure as to why. She'd catch herself looking ahead of them, trying to see if she could catch a glimpse of Kale. Yet, he was long gone, completely out of sight by the time Kyou was done talking with Nakamura. Every time she caught herself staring down the street Kyou would shake her head, both in frustration and in an effort to clear her head.

Eventually she, along with her companions, arrived at the school gates. Kyou wasn't surprised to see that no other student or their parents had yet arrived. In fact the grounds were visibly empty of any humanoid life except for Kale Saunders.

The janitor, adorned in his dark blue jumpsuit, sat on a bench that was shaded by a tree. Judging from what cleaning materials sat next to him, he must have started or was planning to start cleaning the windows. Even though he was not facing directly towards them Kyou could somewhat sense his emotions. His slumped shoulders and hanging head betrayed his emotional fatigue. It was almost as if he carried the whole weight of the world on his shoulders. Kyou hated seeing him this way, and she knowing the compassionate nature of Nagisa and her daughter, guessed that they probably felt the same way about Kale as she did.

Kyou was about to prompt Ushio to go over to Kale, but the child acted on her own before she could say anything. Sliding off of Botan's back, Ushio ran on over. Without any warning, Ushio wrapped her arms around Kale as far as she could reach. The janitor looked up in surprise.

"Morning San-san!" happily greeted Ushio. At first no words came from the janitor, the surprise of the sudden hug still hindering any action. But Kale eventually responded, lightly returning the hug as a soft smile began to creep upon his face.

"Good morning Ushio-chan," said Kale. He looked up and saw Kyou, Nagisa, and Botan closing what little distance now remained between them.

"Ah, hello Fujibayashi-san," greeted Kale, giving a bow after he stood up to properly greet them. Looking over at Nagisa, Kale spoke again, "You must be Okazaki-san I'm assuming, Ushio-chan's mother?"

"Yes," replied Nagisa in a happy tone, almost as if she were proud of the familial connection she shared with Ushio. "I'm Okazaki Nagisa. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Saunders-san."

"The pleasure is mine I assure you," said Kale. He smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

Kyou decided to save Kale from the burden of making small talk. "So, are you doing alright Saunders?"

"Why do you ask that?"

"Well . . . we saw how rude that woman was to you," explained the kindergarten teacher. Merely thinking back on the memory of that woman began to poison Kyou's emotions with anger.

"Ah yeah . . . that . . ." sighed Kale. His emotions seemed to be poisoned by that memory as well, just like Kyou. Though the emotional poison that afflicted him was not anger, at least not as far as anyone could tell. Instead it seemed to be sorrow that was creeping into his heart.

"It's just so stupid how people can act so rude. Racism is such a idiotic thing," huffed Kyou.

Kale looked up at Fujibayashi. It surprised her that his face was set in confusion. "Racism?" he merely uttered, "Nakamura-san a racist? Oh no, she isn't a racist at all." Kale was quick to jump to her defense and he sounded quite sincere.

"Well, why did she treat you so badly then?" questioned Kyou. She didn't mean to sound so frustrated but she thought that maybe Kale was defending Nakamura. Defense of one who did wrong to you was an ideal that did not sit well with the purple-haired young woman.

"She um . . . well . . ." Kale's gaze flicked away from Kyou's face. "She has her reasons . . ."

Kyou was befuddled into silence. What kind of reason could the woman have if not racism? Questions begged to be released from Kyou's closed mouth but they were destined to remain silenced for now, as the sudden vibrating and loud ringing of her cell phone grabbed Kyou's attention.

"Excuse me for a moment," Kyou apologized. She walked a few feet away, pulling out her cell phone from her pocket as she did so. The caller's name was revealed once she flipped the phone open. Kyou instantly recognized the name displayed on the phone's screen, it being the name of her twin sister Ryou. Eager to talk to her, Kyou brought the cell phone to her ear.

"Hello?" said Kyou, "That you, Ryou?"

"Hello Onee-chan!" happily responded Ryou. The voice seemed much more energetic and jovial then it normally was which stunned Kyou a bit.

"Well . . . you seem quite happy don't you?" chuckled Kyou. Though the mood of Ryou seemed more outspoken then normal it being happy made Kyou happy as well.

"W-well, yeah I am," stammered Ryou. Kyou couldn't help but chuckle again, emotionally placated by the familiarity of her sister's normally reserved personality. The chuckle was probably not that loud or disruptive as Ryou made no comment on it. Instead the younger twin's voice again began to drift from the cell phone Kyou was using.

"I was hoping that we could get together later today," began Ryou. "You know . . . and talk about things . . ." Having been so close with her for so long Kyou sensed that something was amiss, though she tried to silently reassure herself that she was still confused and wound up by the morning's previous events and was thus imaging things.

"Sure, sounds like fun," said Kyou. "Just tell me when and where."

"Oh . . . you know that one outdoor cafe that we used to go to all the time. You remember that place don't you?

"Yep, of course I do." She and her sister had gone to that little cafe so many times; it was interwoven with many of her memories of when she was back in high school.

"Okay. Well, um . . ." Ryou's voice trailing off in the manner it did made it abundantly clear to Kyou that Ryou had something else she wanted to say, though obviously she was apprehensive to talk about it. "How about you bring a friend too?"

"Huh?" was all Kyou could say at first. It wasn't exactly an unusual request but it wasn't one she had been expecting, not with the way Ryou was acting. "I dunno, why don't we go out, just the two of us. You know, sisterly bonding and all that stuff."

"N-no, I think it would be more fun as a g-group," denied Ryou. While the stammering of the voice would make others think that her denial was flimsy and easily broken down by insistence, Kyou knew otherwise. In such matters, despite her reserved nature, Ryou could be quite insistent. Kyou decided to accept, sighing as she gave an agreement to Ryou's request.

"Great! Let's meet about an hour after you get off work, is that okay?"

"It's no trouble at all," assured Kyou. The meeting itself was indeed no trouble at all. What really bewildered her was the strange manner in which Ryou was acting. Kyou decided not to say anything though, guessing that she might obtain some answers when she saw Ryou later.

"Alright, I'll see you then."

"See ya later, Ryou,"

With farewells said Kyou flipped her phone closed. As she put the phone back into her pocket Kyou gave forth what felt like the millionth sigh of the morning. Why did everything have to be so confusing? What was it that made others hate such a nice person like Kale so much? What was it that made Ryou so nervous?

Kyou wanted to grip her head and simply howl in frustration. She did not however, still desiring to maintain a certain level of dignity and control in front of Ushio. The confusion of the morning was really starting to get to her though.

Taking a few deep breaths Kyou calmed herself. It didn't matter if she didn't know the answers right now. She would figure it all out sooner or later, as she was determined to do so. Her curiosity and agitation burned brightly. If anyone got in her way . . . well, they'd better watch it. If they did they would be downed by Kyou's favorite form of attack, a dictionary to the face.