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Throwing Stones
Chapter Fifteen: A Vague Hope
Touya finished laying the first few segments of brick. Little by little, the restaurant was starting to come together.
It'd been three days since they'd started this project. Due to his previous experience laying brick for the garden wall, he immediately volunteered to close the open gaps of the restaurant's storefront. Meanwhile Jin had focused his attention on putting down new flooring. He used to run wire for a residential electrical company and did some renovations as a part time gig before he'd been arrested. So he was skilled in laying floors.
Kagome had already pre-purchased all of the materials they would need to fix up the place so the clean up and restoration was going far faster than any of them anticipated.
His gaze drifted towards her curiously.
The woman laughed as Himiko took to hanging onto her again. It was a common sight to see the blonde hovering around Kagome wherever she went. Himiko seemed to have taken to viewing the older woman as a maternal figure in her life. Often holding onto her or resting her head on her shoulder. Himiko thrived off of Kagome's positive demeanor and so she stuck to her like glue. Today was no different.
Touya watched as Kagome patted the top of the blonde's head as she tried to encourage her to help Kenji and Atsuhiro with the decorations.
It was still surprising to him that Kagome was single. Sure, having the number three hero as her adoptive brother might've had something to do with it, but there was still that Houjo guy who'd clearly wanted to use his position of power to force her into some sort of date with him or worse.
His lips thinned at the thought.
How did that meeting even go? He was sure that the reason Kagome got called into town was because of the scare they'd given the bastard. She was so stressed and sick afterward that she hadn't emerged from her room until near the end of breakfast. Even when she did, she still seemed uneven on her feet.
Touya watched as Himiko subtly held onto Kagome's arm, gently holding her steady. Despite the teen's lighthearted nature, she was paying just as much attention to Kagome's condition as he was. In fact, it seemed as if everybody was. The group periodically switched off with one enough to keep her company. Each of them taking the chance to ensure that she wasn't pushing herself. Hawks had picked up on their behavior and kept his distance—a silent approval of their concern.
Touya blinked when Kagome caught his gaze and flashed him a brief yet warm smile.
She wanted this town to become their home.
That was a notion that still felt so foreign to him. For once he wasn't being looked at like a freak of nature or a failure. To her, he was just Touya. He was just one of the seven people she'd taken under her wing for this rehabilitation project.
His fingers curled into a tight fist as his side.
That was right, he was her responsibility. Nothing more.
Touya closed his eyes.
Even if it was just a pipe dream at this point, he wanted to imagine a possibility of starting a new life in this town. Far from the cold, grey walls of his prison cell and completely removed from any mention of his father's name. This village was tiny and tranquil, a perfect place for him to consider settling down if he were to gain his freedom at the end of this program.
Touya glanced up to catch Kagome's eyes on his form. A small smile pulled at the corners of her lips and he found himself smirking back at her.
Regardless of what the future held, he'd at least enjoy his time here while he still had it.
He returned to the wall and finished closing the gap.
One task down, more than a thousand left to go.
As the hours passed, Aizawa eventually returned to the market square with their bus in tow. The man ordered everyone on before he came to a stop in front of him.
"I gave your brother your letter," The hero began. "He's asking to see you this weekend."
Touya blinked.
Shouto actually wanted to come to this remote town to talk to him?
He shifted on his heel, "That's fine by me."
Besides, chances were that Shouto just wanted to hear his message from him directly. Suddenly getting a letter out of the blue must've been surprising. So it's natural that the boy would want to confirm everything he'd written to him.
"He'll be by on Saturday, right?" Touya questioned.
It was their only free day and the Sports Festival was going to be taking place next week. Kagome had already promised to record it for everyone so that they could watch it together in the evening after they were finished with their work. He was a tad curious to see how his brother would fair in the competition.
"That's right." Aizawa shot him a pointed look, "Kagome and I both will be sitting in during that conversation."
Touya rolled his shoulders, "I figured that would happen."
Kagome was responsible for him and Aizawa wanted to be sure that neither his current student or his previous student would be in any danger. He had no desire to hurt his baby brother but he could understand the man's caution. He'd be more concerned if Aizawa wasn't wary of him.
He clamored onto the bus and took the last spot available next to Kagome. Ohagi was curled up in her lap as the tiny feline purred away—hardly noticing his arrival. The woman shifted in her seat to give him more room, but he leaned against her. Touya lowered his head and rested his cheek against the crown of her hair.
"Touya?" Her voice was a mixture of confusion and a tiny bit of a warning.
"I'm beat," He smirked, leaning over her more. "And you make a nice pillow."
"Young man," She tone grew stern.
"You keep calling me that but I bet you're younger than me." His lips pulled into a playful smirk. "You're what, barely twenty?"
"I'm twenty one." She sulked at him, "Besides age has nothing to do with it."
"Sure it does. I'm twenty three so you don't get to call me 'young man'. If you're going to address me then just call me 'Touya'. I prefer that anyways." He wrapped his arm over the back of her seat as he encouraged her to lean into his side. "Besides you look tired as hell too. I don't mind letting you sleep on me. You've done it a few times before anyways."
He didn't miss the sharp flush that'd crossed her cheeks, nor the bright glowing of Aizawa's eyes from the front of the bus.
If he had no future, then he would enjoy the present as much as he possibly could.
Touya wrapped his arm around her as he pressed his palm to the crown of her head, encouraging her to lean against his chest.
"Get some rest. I'll wake you when we get there." Touya lowered his voice, "You really do look exhausted. Everyone's worried about you. So try to take care of yourself first, yeah?"
He felt Kagome go lax against his side. Her head lowered as her body slumped with the exhausting she felt. Touya held her against him as they made the trip back to the dorm.
It wasn't much, but he was glad that Kagome seemed to trust him to some degree. He leaned his cheek against the crown of her head as she curled herself against him.
For just a moment, a brief thought crossed his mind.
Had he not screwed up his life, could he have been free to pursue whatever sort of relationship they currently had with each other? Kagome was looking at him as her responsibility, her charge. Yet he wouldn't deny feeling that he wanted her to look at him as a man. His body was wrecked. His life was in shambles. His future was nonexistent. Yet this single moment in time made him feel more alive than he'd ever been.
Touya breathed through his nose as he gave a low sigh.
Come what may, he wanted to stay.
