Chapter Twelve

I'm trying to decided if I want a Hoshi and Tony chapter later on. Tell me what you think after all of this drama. :)

The leads on where the shard came from dried up really fast while Steve was away. She understood that he wouldn't be able to contact her while he was away, but she still felt worried. Leah looked at her, "come on...tell me!"

"No," she said as she flipped the sandwich in the fry pan. She missed grilled cheese sandwiches and diet coke.

Leah reached over to steal some shredded cheese but Kay smacked her hand with a spatula making the woman sulk away. Hoshi yawned as she walked in, she was wearing a loose robe with a satin gown underneath. She yawned, "what time is it?"

"Eleven thirty," Kayura said to the woman. "You and Stark have a late night meeting?"

Hoshi padded over the fridge and pulled out some orange juice, "not you too."

Leah complained, "she just has her geta in a twist because Stevey poo is gone off the grid."

Hoshi poured a glass, "is this true?"

Kayura rolled her eyes, "the topic was you and Stark, not me and Steve."

Hoshi smiled, "you and Steve?"

Kay felt her cheeks get red, "this is not new news."

Hoshi just laughed, "no, but I like you seeing you flustered. It's a good look on the cold...hard...Ogre."

Leah barked out a laugh as Kay turned off the stove and slid her sandwich on a plate. She looked at the small woman, "we are not talking about me and Steve."

Hoshi answered, "yes...ma'am."

"Ugh," she said as she left the kitchen with her sandwich. She turned her eyes away as Stark walked past in his boxers.

The main dining hall wasn't as thrashed as it once was, but it still showed some battle scars from the Akuma. She saw Seito sitting on the stairs and she sat down next to him, "sandwich?"

He laughed, "you and your sandwiches, Aunty."

She smiled as she took a small bite, "where's Junko?"

"Her and Mom had a fight, again," he said with a sigh. "I told her not to go into Mom's bedroom, but you know..."

Kay nodded, "what do you think about all of it?"

"Other than Dad needs to move on because Mom obviously has, I don't really care," he said leaning on his knees and looking on her.

"How did that even happen?"

"Mom was really depressed after they got back from who knows where," he said, "and then Papa's body disappeared from the morgue. Dad became obsessed, you know how he is, looking for it and left Hoshi in Stark's company way too much. I told him it was bad news. Then he came home one morning and found them in bed together..."

"Gee," she said as she heard his story. "I really missed out on a lot."

"I think if you had been here, she might have not fallen for his temptations."

"Why?"

"She would have kept trying to keep you and Steve at arms length."

Kay snorted.

He asked, "can you go talk to Junko? She's really upset, I mean between the birthday party and Mom's repeated late night meetings...she's a mess. She won't even talk to Dad."

Kayura handed him her plate, "wash that for me and we have a deal."

"Thanks Aunty, can I ask why you didn't want me in armor the night the Akuma showed up?"

She thought for a moment, "because Ross was there and if things didn't go right or didn't go as planned. I didn't want your armor to be taken. We're old, we're used to be tortured and in pain all the time. I don't want you to give up your life just yet."

She saw him smile at her as she headed up the stairs, she had found her old wardrobe in another room. It consisted of black jeans, tank tops, and the ever fashionable baggy sweater. Today's sweater was a deep gray, and a little fluffy, but it breathed fairly well. She came to the last room in the left wing and knocked softly, "Juju?"

It was silent for a long moment before it opened and she saw a very weary young woman, "hi, aunty."

Kay leaned against the frame, "can I come in?"

Jun stepped away, "suit yourself."

Kayura came in and closed the door behind her. The room had antique furniture adorned with modern luxuries. It was cute and quaint in Kay's opinion. She sat down on her large bed as Junko furiously worked on her laptop, "I heard about this morning.."

Junko glarred, "why do you always think you do this?"

"Do what?"

"Think you can come in and save the day," she said.

Kayura leaned back on the bed, "I know I can't change anything..."

"No, you can't," she said turning around in her chair. Tears streaming down her face, "you only see part of the story while you run around with the Warlords and Avengers. Mom is never happy, she wasn't happy with Papa or Dad, and this Tony thing? It's just because she wants to sacrifice herself for the greater good."

Kayura raised an eyebrow, "greater good?"

"Seito thinks I'm dumb," she said, "I know you all think it but I see more than you all do. I'm a wall flower in this family of freaks. I know about the Owari, Papa told me about the Owari and how it was slowly killing her. Every time she uses it, a nerve dies or a bone breaks. She realizes that if there's invasion or if world governments decide to 'regulate' us that Stark is our only hope of staying secret. He might actually help us because Mom is letting him plow her."

Kay hadn't thought of it that but she had seen how Hoshi acted around the man, "I don't think its completely that."

"I refuse to accept that Mom was traumatized by Papa's death enough that she left Dad, the other man in their relationship, for a man who thinks he's God's gift to humans. Not even she's that dumb!"

Kayura realized it was a subject that her and Seito probably went around in circles with and asked, "what's this legislation you were talking about?"

Junko went to her computer, "Seito has these friends..."

Kayura had heard about the online vigilantes who hacked into things like S.H.I.E.L.D and Seito's affiliation with them. She stood up and leaned over Junko's shoulder, there was a photo of a building exploding, "see, Socovia wasn't the only thing the Avengers blew up...and the world's kind of pissed."

Kayura sighed, "Steve knows about this?"

"I'm sure that's why him and Tony are not being friendly."

"Any other reason?"

"He kind of told him that he had dibs on you if that were the case."

Kay raised a brow, "excuse me, what?"

"Tony said if the ronins and warlords had to be divided up or taken into custody, he had dibs on you," she said. "He doesn't like you very much or likes you a lot, I haven't decided yet."

"That's not how he acts."

Junko asked, "why?"

"I think he blames me for your Papa."

"You had nothing to do with Papa's lame brain scheme to make a new Inferno," she paused, "that was completely him!"

Kay crossed her arms, "yeah...but I was supposed to protect him."

Junko then said, "he blames you for not protecting a man who set up his own death? Sounds ridiculous to me."

Kayura ran a hand through her hair, "yeah, you don't say. Junko, I'm going to have you promise me something."

"Anything, Aunty."

"You run," she said, "you keep running until your feet hurt and you run with Seito as far as you can. Forget us, and forget your birth right. Live and live your life how you want to live it."

Junko saw her look so sad, "Mom says you ran."

Kayura smiled, "and if I hadn't run when I did, I wouldn't have found Steve."