Disclaimer: I don't own jack!

Throwing Stones

Chapter Five: Poking the Bear

Touya wiped the back of his hand across his brow. A thin layer of sweat clung onto him despite the mild spring temperatures. It was unusually humid in this region. With the vast overgrowth of ferns, trees and weeds, it felt more like a rainforest than a suburban neighborhood.

His gaze slid towards the empty chair across the yard.

Kagome had been conspicuously absent from both dinner last night and breakfast this morning. Hawks simply explained that she had to take care of the legal documentation for their program but he didn't buy it.

She'd looked sick by the time they'd made it back to the dorm yesterday. Plus her breathing had remained heavy and strained, as if she couldn't take in enough air.

Whatever illness she had, it must've hit her pretty hard.

"Touya!" Himiko yanked on his arm in order to grab his attention, "You're gonna hit my feet with that thing!"

He blinked, glancing down as the trimmer had come within a few inches of the teenager's shoes.

He shut the equipment off and set it back where it belonged.

Today he'd gotten teamed up with Himiko to trim up the edges of the yard. Yesterday he'd cut down the height of the grass to a more manageable level and ended up finishing all the mowing. Today he was tidying up the edges and would be starting on the brick wall that'd been destroyed.

His gaze shifted towards the crumbled brick. Based on the damage, it'd looked as if something had been smashed right through it into the yard.

"Was there some kind of fight here?" He directed his question at Hawks who was currently hovering in the air above him. The man's expression was sharp, as if trying to determine if he were a threat.

Clearly the blond still wasn't all too thrilled about him touching Kagome yesterday.

A cocky smirk spread across his lips.

He had no delusions about the woman falling prey to his charms. His face alone was enough to scare most women into screaming in terror. He was repulsive to look at and he had more than thirty murders under his rap sheet. So if his face didn't scare them off, then his reputation most certainly did. If Kagome were a woman easily swayed by men's charms then she never would've been permitted to run such a program in the first place. Still, it was nice to know that he was getting under someone's skin. If he couldn't torment his father, then he would focus on irritating the bird.

It would be fun to see what exactly he could get away with before Hawks decided to pull the plug. He wasn't ready to go back to his prison cell just yet so he'd have to play things by ear.

"This," Hawks raised his voice so that the whole group could hear him. "Is the site where the villain you know as Shinigami was captured. That collapsed wall is what's left of the damage that the town incurred in the battle."

Touya blinked.

Shinigami?

He hadn't heard that name in almost a decade.

Shinigami had been one of the most dangerous villains to ever exist in their superhuman society. He had a miasmic quirk that he'd used to kill scores of people—innocent civilians and villains alike. Then one day he simply vanished. He fell off the radar completely. Some thought he'd been captured or died, but no one really knew for sure. At least until a little over ten years ago. A hero had stumbled across a fight taking place between a civilian and a villain group. The hero tried to intervene but the civilian unleashed his miasmic quirk, revealing his true identity as Shinigami. According to reports, he had a young child with him thought to be his own. So the reason he'd fallen the radar was because he'd retired from the villain scene and started his own family.

It was a scandal that'd nearly tore the nation into two.

The very thought that a crazed murdered who'd spared his victims no mercy could live among them undetected and have a family of his own had sent their country spiraling.

Discussions began about the possibility of rehabilitating villains. As expected, the notion was virtually laughed out of the public sphere. Now though it seemed as if people were beginning to take the first step in making rehabilitation possible.

"So does that mean that he used to live around here?" Touya questioned curiously, "They said he was local, right?"

It was starting to make sense why this place seemed forgotten by the world. If Shinigami really had lived here, then people would've moved away in droves. Those that'd stayed behind were either too old and stubborn to leave their homes or were standing behind Shinigami in support. Regardless, it was a curious thing to see recent history so up close and personal.

"No one knows for sure," Hawks' tone was cryptic, "But you guys should hurry it up. It'll be 3pm before you know it."

Touya rolled his eyes that time.

It was actually closer to noon and he could catch the scent of tempura on the breeze. The elderly couple appeared to be cooking for them again. He had to admit that their food was pretty damn amazing, especially compared to that murderous concoction Jin and Himiko created last night. The very smell was enough to make him want retch but seeing blood ooze from it had made him damn near lose his appetite. It was clear that someone would have to watch those two any time they were assigned kitchen duty from this point forward.

Touya made his way towards the brick wall. He'd be the first to admit that he knew extremely little about construction. He'd seen videos of people laying bricks onto mortar and they'd made it appear extremely easy. However he'd like to make sure he was doing it at least somewhat correctly.

He glanced around until he found a small packet of instructions tucked securely under an unopened bag of mortar. As expected of Kagome, she'd left a step-by-step instruction manual of how to lay the foundation and rebuild the wall. Everything from the proper mixing ratios to create the mortar to the exact technique needed to keep the bricks from becoming uneven and loose. It was going to take some time getting adjusted to it, but he was sure that he could manage.

His eyes drifted towards Himiko who was currently pulling at more weeds across the yard. She yanked and tore at them until small pockets of uprooted grass were left in her wake.

"Hey blondie," Touya called out to her. "Stop stripping the yard bald before I do the same to you."

What was she, five years old?

He couldn't believe he had to tell a teenager to not tear out the damn grass with the weeds.

"If you wanna help, you can start by yanking the vines off of the house." He gestured towards the home, "You can go wild on those blocked out windows."

The girl flashed a wide grin as she shot over to the area he'd pointed at.

He didn't have an ounce of faith that she could honestly help him with the wall. If anything, she'd be liable to destroy the mixture's ratios before they even started. It'd just be easier if he worked on it himself.

His gaze drifted to the rest of their group.

Today Tenko had been paired off with Atsuhiro and Jin. The trio were trying, and failing, to repaint an old bench. The first layer was uneven and sloppy, plus the humidity was far too high for the bench to dry properly. They were huddled around the object, discussing what they could do to dry it out faster.

Meanwhile Kenji and Shuichi were power washing the sides of the house—erasing away years of muck and filth from the wall. Unlike yesterday, they seemed to be fairing much better with the washer.

Himiko on the other hand was yanking vines off the house with reckless abandon. Frustrated by the lack of progress on the bench, Jin joined her, matching her enthusiasm as he did. Meanwhile Atsuhiro and Tenko simply gave up on the bench for the day and moved on to putting all the furniture back onto the patio.

Progress was going by fast but not quite fast enough. He'd have to split his time tomorrow to make sure everything got done.

By the time lunch rolled around, he had completed more than half of the wall. He'd have to eat quickly though before the mortar set.

"Here you go!" A familiar face beamed up at him as he approached the buffet table.

Touya blinked.

When the hell had Kagome arrived? Had he been too caught up in his work to even notice her arrival?

"You were working hard out there!" Her smile was wide as she heaped the tempura into his dish. "Make sure you get plenty of water and stay hydrated. This region is surprisingly humid."

He carefully grabbed the bowl from her and gave her a quick once-over.

She was no longer unbalanced like she'd been yesterday. Nor did she appear to be struggling as much as before. Still there was something not quite right about her appearance. Something he couldn't exactly put his finger on.

"You good?" He kept his question short.

The woman blinked as if confused. A look of realization flitted over her features for a brief moment.

"Oh!" She responded in shock. "Oh yes, I'm fine! I'm sorry you had to see that the other day. It just happens sometimes."

Kagome rubbed the back of her head in a sheepish manner.

What she said wasn't exactly a lie but he could tell that there was more to it than that.

Far be it for him to pry the information out of her while surrounded by convicted killers.

Touya threw her a short smirk, "I never had a woman fall for me so literally before. As fun as it was, I'd rather you be able to stay on your feet."

He didn't have to look to feel Hawks' scathing glare upon his back.

Touya pushed on, "Unless you want to fall into a bed somewhere together. Then that could be fun too."

He'd expected Kagome to get angry with him or even scold him. However what she did surprised him even more.

She laughed.

It wasn't the caustic, domineering laugh that he was used to from the opposite sex. No, this one was full of mirth and enjoyment. As if she hadn't anticipated on anyone flirting with her at all.

"That's a nice line, I'll admit." Kagome wiped a stray tear from her eye as she fought to control her laughter, "But I'm afraid that I'll have to decline."

By now he could practically feel the other pro hero breathing down his neck.

Touya's smirk widened, "It was worth a shot."

He glanced back at the blond and found himself grinning even wider. The man's wings were puffed out while his brows were set into steep furrow.

Mission accomplished.

His gaze drifted back towards Kagome.

By now she had flitted over to the rest of their group and was talking to everyone one-on-one. A slight flush crossed her cheeks as she laughed at Himiko's antics.

He had to admit that she was pretty cute.

Annoying the bird would be a lot more entertaining with her around.