The Apple Doesn't Fall Far
Finally, lunch time came. The break from the usual classroom routine was all too welcome as Kaien sat on the roof with his friends.
"Well, that wasn't so bad," Mojimo said, taking out his bento box.
Kaien snorted. "Not so bad? You don't care that your mom's sitting out there, watching your every move?"
He shook his head. "Not really. They're not that interested, anyway. She just showed up so it wouldn't look like she didn't care about her son's grades."
"I wish my mom was like that," Jonku said as he leaned against the wall. "She's always nagging me about my grades… so what if I'm not top in the class? Big deal."
Kaien scarfed his food down quickly. Though his mother did all the cooking, she wasn't particularly talented in dealing with food. There were times when it was somewhat decent, though mostly tolerable. Then there were times when he had trouble telling what was what, and would seriously consider if it was an attempt at poisoning him. Fortunately, it was one thing they endured together as a family. They had learned the hard way not to breath a word about the food, as punishment would be enacted swiftly to any who dared. His father included.
He had learned from experience, the best way to handle the questionable food was to eat it as quickly as possible, keeping the suffering down to a minimum. He put the empty box to the side, leaning back. Sitting back on the roof, hanging out with his friends… everything seemed to be alright up there. No assignments, no annoying teachers, no parents...
"Kaien!!!" An all too familiar voice called out. What remnants of a smile that had came across his face quickly disappeared in favor of a more horrified expression. He turned to see his mother bouncing towards them, smiling and waving cheerfully. Mrs. Kurosaki was there, on the roof, with his friends...
"M-Mom?!" His eyes widened as he stared in shock and, above all, horror, as she walked over, smiling sickeningly, and proceeded to sit down next to him.
"Hello there, everyone." She nodded to his friends. "I thought I would join you all for lunch."
Kaien couldn't think straight, couldn't move. Was… was his mother… was Mrs. Kurosaki… coming to eat lunch with them?! He continued to stare for a moment longer at her, unable to find where to begin. "Y-you…!"
She blinked, looking over at him. "Something wrong, Kaien?" She smiled, entirely oblivious to his discomfort.
"W-what… why…" He continued to stutter.
Mrs. Kurosaki stood up and turned toward the roof railing. She looked across the rooftop and the students sitting there, as well as the view of Karakura in front of her. "I remember eating lunch here," she said somewhat wistfully. Mrs. Kurosaki faded away, only to be replaced by his mom, who stood leaning against the banister.
He recovered from the shock, finally, and found things much more tolerable with his mom rather then Mrs. Kurosaki. Warily he rose to his feet, shuffling over to her.
She looked out at the building tops that made up Kurakura Town, a faint smile on her face. "Your father and I would eat up here, as well. Just as you're doing now."
He looked down at his feet, bit of embarrassment creeping up. "Mom…" He mumbled awkwardly.
Suddenly his Mrs. Kurosaki made her return with a large smile on her face. "It is so nice to be with you all this fine afternoon!" She beamed, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the others. "Now, you must introduce me to your friends!"
Kaien could do nothing but shut his eyes, and pretend it was just a nightmare.
***
Uncle Renji was strange. It wasn't news to Masaki, but she hadn't taken the time to fully think about it before. He never struck her as a particularly smart man, either. But it wasn't until that afternoon where it all became so bluntly obvious to her.
After a while, her Uncle finally decided to be more of a babysitter and insisted they do something to keep them both busy. Chess had always been a favorite game of hers. So, naturally, it was her first choice. An exciting game that involved technical knowledge, strategy, wit, and a certain degree of mental manipulation. Perfect.
Somehow, when playing against Uncle Renji, none of these things seemed to exist.
"HA!" He exclaimed, a triumphant smirk spreading across his face as he firmly planted his rook across the board. "Now I can take your King!"
Masaki sighed, leaning her head onto her open palm, staring with boredom at the chess table. "You can't move there. The rook can only move horizontally or vertically. It can't do both during the same turn."
He frowned. "Oh." He moved the piece back to its original place, sitting back to look over his side of the board. Distractedly he reached for the open can of concentrated orange juice mix, digging a spoonful into the contents and bringing it to his mouth like ice cream.
Maskai watched in disgust as he did so, her eyes narrowing and mouth hanging open the slightest bit. At first, she had thought it to be a sick, practical joke, in some attempt to get a reaction out of her. It quickly became apparent he was doing no such thing, and did it so casually and- well, normally, he seemed to see nothing strange about it. At all.
She always knew he was weird. But she never knew he was that weird.
"AHH!!" He exclaimed suddenly, his face becoming viciously excited as he slid his queen all the way across the board, through the weak spot in her defenses, putting her king into check.
Masaki frowned at the movement. "You can't do that, either." She said, looking at him seriously.
"What? Why not?!" He said, frustrated far more then any decent man his age should get over a chess game against a fifteen year old.
She let out a patient sigh. "The King is the most superior piece on the board, right?" She picked up her king, holding it in the air to aid in proving her point. "The queen is the woman, the second most superior… do you think a mere queen would be able to take a king? It just wouldn't make sense."
His expression fell, frowning down at the board. "I guess that makes sense…"
The brown-haired teenager allowed herself a small, slightly sinister smirk in victory when he wasn't looking. It was just too easy.
The game continued on for another six minutes, until she finally decided to put the poor man out of his misery. It took three moves to beat him. One of the pieces used was the queen.
"Hey! You can't do that!" He pointed at the offending game piece, which stood only five spaces away from his king. "The queen can't take the king!"
She looked at him innocently, blinking more than was necessary. "What are you talking about?"
He gaped, making a series of barely audible choking noises, apparently unable to find something to say. "Hey! What're you trying to pull?! You just said-"
"Something wrong?" She asked, looking at him with what appeared to be worry.
He gritted his teeth, finally looking away in what seemed to be a distant relation of the pout. "Nothing," He spat.
She shrugged, standing up, making sure to make every movement seem slow and unsteady. "I'm going… to go lie down…" She pulled the blanket around herself, trudging up the stairs. It was nice to have a bit of fun with her Uncle, playing mind games during the game of chess. Still, the day was almost over, and her activities would be limited as soon as her mother got home.
Was missing that day of school really worth all the trouble, obstacles, and hazards?
Of course it was.
***
"That was exciting!" His mother said. They walked down the main hallway on their way leaving the school. Kaien made sure to keep his head down slightly, despite the scarcity of students around them.
"Yeah… exciting," he snorted.
A group of friends started to walk towards them up ahead. He recognized the girl walking in front instantly: Kayo Yamato. She was head of the art club, and was one of the most popular people in the entire school. Every time he saw her, he was always thrown into a sort of dumb stupor, fumbling about and unable to form spoken words. Something about her wavy hair that flowed gracefully down her back, or the way she would give that beautiful, gorgeous smile…
He'd been watching her since the middle of primary school, and couldn't stop since. She had that effect on him.
As the group neared, he swallowed, casting his gaze aside. Unfortunately, his mother noticed.
"Hm? Kaien? What's wrong?" She asked, eying him.
He angled his head downwards, reaching an arm up to hide the side of his face. Kayo walked past them without even the most fleeting glance his direction. After they were gone, his face went into a scowl as he trudged forward.
"Who was that? Was…" She trailed off. She moved further ahead slightly, looking back at him. A sly, knowing grin slowly spread across her face, as her eyes narrowed. "Oh? You have a crush on her, Kaien? Eh? Eh?" She nudged him in the side with her elbow.
"I do not!" He shoved his hands far into the pockets of his pants, hunching over to avoid her gaze.
It did nothing to quell her excitement. "Ah... It seems my little Kaien is growing into a man." She said confidently, folding her arms across her chest. She smiled triumphantly, chuckling slightly to herself.
"Shut up!"
***
"Masaki! We're home!" His mother called as they entered the front door.
Renji snapped awake with a slight snore. Slowly he rose from his sprawled-out position on the couch, apparently taking a nap. One thing seemed a bit off, though, since his hair seemed to be full of… tiny braids? With bunny clips?
"Oi! You're back, finally. I've been waitn' all day for you to show up!" Uncle Renji pushed himself up from the couch, stepping around the various empty food containers that were scattered around the room like land mines.
Kaien struggled to suppress his laugh. His mother only looked at the tall man with a deadpan expression. She didn't seem so amused. Renji just seemed clueless.
"…What? Somethin' on my face?" The red-haired man brought a hand up to rub his cheek sloppily. His mother was quick in taking action, swiftly yanking the handful of hair clips off of his braids and hiding them in the recesses of her pockets. Wait… Were the bunny clips hers?
…Kaien wasn't sure he wanted to know.
There was some arguing between the two adults he didn't quite catch before things seemed to calm again.
"I appreciate you coming, Renji."
He shook his head. "Ah… it's no big deal. Just helpin' out. Nothing really goin' on at the office."
"Would you like to stay for dinner?"
Uncle Renji's eyes widened, and stuttered in response. Kaien could remember all too well the last time Uncle Renji had stayed for dinner.
It was a normal evening, with the entire family sitting around the table. Uncle Renji was shoved in the seat in between Masaki and himself. The meal started normally. Unfortunately, their Uncle was not prepared for the sort of food being served, and apparently felt to need to be extremely vocal about it. He made a remark that compared the taste of Mom's cooking to dog food.
That was his big mistake.
She erupted out of her chair, roughly pulling him out of his seat. She challenged his statement vocally, with an angered look they hadn't seen on her face since he was caught skipping school two months earlier. It wasn't a pretty sight.
His mother had taken Uncle Renji's still full plate, pulled it off to the table, and forced him to eat it without forks or knives, from the floor.
From the foor! The freaking floor!
His dad seemed just as frightened as they were. When their mother sat back at the table, this time at a deadly calm, the entire family eagerly finished their food, and in record time.
The look on his Uncle Renji's face, being asked to join them for a second meal, was truly an amusing sight.
"I, um… sorry. Got a lot of work to do… Thanks anyway." He hastily put his hands up, almost as if in defense.
"...That is too bad." His mother said, though he detected a slight edge in her voice.
"Dearest Mother…" Masaki's voice came from the stairway, weak and faint. "It is… so good to see you." She was hunched forward, huddled in a blanket. Faker.
"Masaki! You should be in bed." His mother rushed to her worriedly, gently ushering her up the stairs.
She turned to Uncle Renji. "Thanks again for coming, Renji."
"Yeah, yeah…" He walked awkwardly out the door. "Tell Ichigo I said 'Hi."
"I will." She briefly waved him good-bye. Kaien headed straight for the stairs. If he was fast enough, maybe he could delay his mom's lecture.
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-To be Continued-