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Throwing Stones

Chapter Forty: Family

Kagome watched as Touya bid his brothers farewell. The group appeared to be in good spirits, so she'd hoped that their conversation had gone well. Touya was smiling as he clapped Natsuo's shoulder with his hand and slung his arm around Shouto's neck in a sideways hug. All three of them were smiling while both Shouto and Natsuo tried to shove their eldest sibling off of them in a playful manner.

Eri rushed towards the man and opened her arms. Touya swiftly released his siblings and reached down to pick her up without a second thought.

Her lips curled up a little at the sight.

She and Touya could never try to have biological children of their own with her body so fragile. Even intimacy was an impossible goal at this point. However for just this moment, she truly felt as if they were a small makeshift family. There was no blood to tie them all together or marriage vows to bind them, but she still felt connected to both Eri and Touya like a family all the same.

"See you guys next week." Touya bid Shouto and Natsuo farewell. "Next time bring Fuyumi with you."

"Yeah, sure." Natsuo waved him off, "I'll let her know you asked."

Shouto remained where he stood, his brows furrowing with concern.

"Keep looking like that and you'll develop wrinkles before you hit thirty." Touya teased him.

Kagome watched as Shouto shifted on his heel.

"Are you happy with this?" His question was vague but both she and Touya understood his true meaning.

She glanced up at her partner. A confident smirk was playing across his lips as he hoisted Eri further up in his arms.

"What? Do I look unhappy or something? I've got everything I need and more right here. So don't go sweating all the details." Touya threw him another smirk, "You just focus on your own goals. Let your big brother handle his own problems."

Shouto's expression softened as he bid them one final farewell.

Kagome came to stand beside Touya as they watched his brothers board the bus and leave.

"Didn't expect Natsuo to drop by." He commented to himself, "Guess Shouto's been talking a lot."

Kagome pressed her palm to the small of his back in a show of support.

By now it was well past dinner and time for everyone to head to bed. Eri clung onto Touya as he glanced towards her.

"No need for the mushy expression. I'm perfectly fine. Just surprised is all." He then curled his arm around her waist as he led her towards the elevator.

Virtually everyone had gone back to their rooms by now and Hawks had left shortly after the brothers exited the library. So it was just the three of them for the time being.

They kept silent as they made their way down the hall and into her room.

Kagome turned on a child friendly television show while she, Touya and Eri settled on the bed for the evening.

Their secret meet ups had gradually shifted into this strange family time between the three of them. Touya had once caught Eri standing outside her door in the middle of the night after she'd had a nightmare. So he simply picked her up and took her inside once she'd let them into her room. Now, most evenings were spent curled up on her bed with Eri sleeping peacefully between them. Since they'd started doing this, Eri's nightmares hadn't returned.

Kagome pat her palm over the comforter that covered Eri in a soothing manner.

It didn't take long for the girl to fall into a peaceful slumber.

"Just so you know," Touya kept his voice low so as to not disturb Eri from her sleep. "We did talk about a lot. Turns out that Natsuo is going to college now and Fuyumi is a teacher." He gave a derisive snort, "Guess I really was the only failure of the lot since I'm the one that ended up in jail and committing crimes."

Kagome sat further up, "You've had to bear the entire weight of your father's expectations." She reached over and took his hand into hers, "Being told that you were born for one purpose and then having that stripped away would destroy anyone." She interlaced their fingers together, "You are not a failure. You never were. You're just a man who was pushed so far that he broke."

That was something she could say with one hundred percent certainty.

Touya was many things. He was crass, brash and had a penchant for getting under people's skin. He was adept at pushing all the wrong buttons when he wanted to. Yet beneath that exterior, he had a certain form of kindness to him. He always looked after the other members of the group and had taken to caring for Eri as if she were of his own flesh and blood. At his core, Touya truly was a good man. He sometimes just needed help seeing that for himself.

Kagome offered him a warm smile, "We've got several months left until this program is over. So why don't we make the most of it?" She rested her head against his shoulder as she saddled herself closer to him, "Whatever happens with your family, I'll still support you."

Even if her body gave out on her in the process, she wanted to see this through to the end.

Touya sighed as he pressed his cheek against the crown of her head.

"Careful now, everyone might realize you've got a favorite." She heard him laugh as he settled in for bed as well.

Kagome closed her eyes, "We'll deal with that later."

Right now, this moment was the only one that mattered.

A/n: Well if it's not home problems then it's medical ones. Apparently I'm in a very small minority of people that develops severe reactions. So yesterday was my recovery day. I'm good now but I may be off and on while we get this ironed out. Murphy's Law strikes again. I will finish this fic one way or another damn it lmao.