Chapter Two — Objects in Mirror May Be Closer Than They Appear

Mikoto knew that something was wrong the moment Kyoko looked at Itachi in awe, as if she somehow couldn't believe he existed. Which was wrong, because Kyoko had seen Itachi just the day before.

And then Kyoko had reached for Itachi with a shaking hand and asked to hold him while wearing an expression so brittle that Mikoto was afraid the girl would break if she said no.

"Yes," Mikoto said simply, watching as that one word loosened something in the girl's eyes. "Sit here," she directed, guiding Kyoko to sit on the edge of the engawa. Once the girl was settled, she gently guided her through holding Itachi. "You'll need to brace his head. And keep an arm here."

Kyoko followed the directions easily, almost as if she'd expected them. In the entire time, not once had she looked away from Itachi. Shisui came bounding up, leaning in to get a look, but Kyoko didn't spare him even so much as a glance. Mikoto raised an eyebrow. Interesting.

She wasted no time in moving to Kagami. She wanted to address the look in Kyoko's eyes first, but . . . . "How long?"

"Unclear." It took Kagami a moment to tear his gaze away from his children to give her a smile as he said, "Should be only a few days. Thank you, as always."

"Of course." She shifted, lifting her chin. She could see the moment he realized that she was turning the direction of the conversation, and he squared his shoulders. "Kyoko-chan," she said, with a purposeful glance at the children, "has never asked to hold Itachi before." Then she switched her gaze to him, watching him carefully as she listened to his explanation of what had happened. As they talked, concern stirred in her stomach. After all, Obito was the sensitive one. Kyoko-chan had always just been. Been happy and been quiet. Mikoto hadn't seen her terrified and still before.

She tried not to worry too much. After all, all children have nightmares, right? So in the end, she gave her cousin all of the reassurance she could. "Don't worry, Oniisan. I'll keep an eye out."

It was Itachi's crying—screaming, really—that woke her. It took Mikoto longer than she liked to calm him, to get him to sleep. When she finally got him settled again, she sat down on the edge of her bed with a sigh. It was late. Early? It was a time when no one should be awake.

As good a time as any to check in, then.

She kept her steps silent as she moved through the house, stopping at the room that she always kept ready for the twins. Mikoto quietly slid the door open. She smiled at where Shisui was sprawled out over his bed, his blankets bunched up messily around his feet. His pillow was on the floor, but he obviously didn't care as he continued to slumber away. Relieved, Mikoto glanced towards the other bed.

Kyoko wasn't there.

The bed was neatly made, sheets tucked tightly in and the pillow resting against the headboard. But Kyoko wasn't there.

Mikoto whipped around, activating her sharingan and searching for the girl's chakra. She spotted it down the hall and quickly moved to the bathroom. "Kyoko-chan?" she called, pressing a hand against the door and releasing her sharingan. "Are you alright?"

There wasn't an answer. Mikoto frowned and opened the door. "Kyoko-chan," she said softly. "What are you doing awake?" She froze, sharigan burning alight again. "Kyoko," she gasped. "What happened?"

Kyoko was sitting on the counter, her bloody hand in her lap. Behind her, the mirror was shattered with cracks spiderwebbing across its surface, spiraling out from the clear point of impact. The girl looked up at her as if she wasn't even seeing her. "Obasan?"

Mikoto grabbed Kyoko's wrist and dragged her hand under the faucet, turning the water on. Kyoko hissed in surprise, her arm jerking in Mikoto's grasp. "None of that," Mikoto said sharply. "Tell me what happened." She shut off the water and bent her hand over Kyoko's, summoning up medical chakra to stitch the girl's knuckles back together. As she worked, Kyoko remained silent. Finally, Mikoto smoothed her thumb over the repaired skin. "You need to be careful with yourself."

Kyoko blinked, staring through her.

Mikoto frowned and felt the girl's forehead. She felt a little warm, but it certainly wasn't a fever. "Kyoko-chan, what happened?"

Kyoko's gaze roamed over her face, as if she was trying to memorize it. "I couldn't sleep. I'm sorry, Obasan."

Mikoto pulled back, studying her for a moment. Then she reached up and pressed a hand to Kyoko's cheek. "Okay," she murmured. "We'll talk about this in the morning."

Itachi bundled up against her chest, asleep again after eating, Mikoto checked in on the twins on her way to the kitchen. She paused. "Kyoko-chan," she whispered, careful not to wake Shisui. "How long have you been awake?"

Kyoko didn't move from where she was sitting lotus-style on the floor with her eyes closed and her hands on her knees. Quietly, she said, "I didn't sleep."

Mikoto frowned. She shifted back, one hand on Itachi to keep him stabilized. "Come help me with breakfast."

The girl looked up, gaze immediately seeking out Itachi. She nodded, got to her feet, and paced out of the room to come stand beside Mikoto. "Could I hold him again?"

Mikoto put a hand on her head, steering her down the hallway. "After breakfast. Wash your hands." She moved to start heating the kettle for tea. When she turned back, she directed, "Get the eggs out. And tell me what happened last night."

Kyoko retrieved the eggs from the fridge and, carton in hand, turned to consider her. Then she dropped her gaze to Itachi again. "I didn't sleep well. Thank you for fixing me." She looked down at her right hand. Then she shook her head. "What else do you need me to do?"

"Get the rice out as well. We'll need to make sure we have enough for Shisui-chan."

"He does like to eat," Kyoko murmured.

Mikoto smiled. "That he does."

She didn't ask for more answers during the rest of their cooking, instead content to watch Kyoko out the corner of her eye. Watching the way Kyoko was watching Itachi in return.

"You didn't eat much breakfast."

"I wasn't hungry." Kyoko was staring out at the street where Shisui was playing with his taketombo, her hands folded behind her back.

"You didn't eat much yesterday either."

"I wasn't hungry," Kyoko repeated. She turned to face Mikoto and sat down on the engawa. "Could I hold Itachi-chan again?"

Mikoto considered it for a second. And then she nodded, kneeling down to ease the baby into Kyoko's arms. "Careful of his head." Once she had him settled, she felt the girl's forehead. "How are you feeling? Are you nauseous?"

Kyoko leaned back in surprise, as if she hadn't expected to be touched. Then she looked down at Itachi again, moving to hold his hand. Letting him cling to her finger as if it was all she wanted in the world. "Do you have any medical texts?" she murmured. "I'd like to do some reading."

"Hmm. I suppose I have one or two."

"Thank you for watching him today," Mikoto said, kneeling down next to the girl. "At this rate, you're going to be his favorite."

Kyoko didn't seem to have an answer for that.

"I do need to feed him again, though." Mikoto reached out. "And you've already been holding him all day."

Kyoko flinched, head jerking up and eyes wide in panic. A half-second later, the look was gone, and she nodded stiffly.

Mikoto paused. She thought about addressing it, but she decided she'd bring it up with Kagami instead. She eased Itachi from the girl's arms. "Obito-kun should be here soon. I'm sure you've missed him."

"I have," Kyoko rasped out. She quickly looked away, but there was no mistaking the teary quality to her voice. "Thank you for the medical texts, Obasan."

Mikoto hummed in response, retreating into the house to feed Itachi. When she returned, Shisui was laying on the ground, covered in dirt and breathing heavily. Kyoko was leaning over the edge of the engawa to look at him in fascination.

"Shisui-chan! Kyo-chan!"

Kyoko snapped to her feet in surprise. "Niichan!" She practically tumbled from the engawa and was slamming into Obito before Shisui had even sat up.

Obito squeaked in alarm, falling backwards and taking his sister with him. "Kyo-chan! Aw, you really missed me, huh?" Grinning, Obito sat up and wrapped his arms around Kyoko. "Don't worry. Your favorite brother is here!"

"Hey!" Shisui shouted in indignation, finally making it to his feet. "Kyo-chan's my twin. That makes me her favorite!"

"Yeah, yeah," Obito said, struggling up to his feet despite the way Kyoko was clinging to him like a deadweight. "Go get your stuff, tiny. You too, Kyo-chan."

As Shisui ran inside to do so, Kyoko looked up at Obito uncertainly. After a moment, she peeled herself away and moved inside, looking back at him again and again as if she thought he was going to leave.

Mikoto stepped up to Obito. "How was your mission?"

He looked up and beamed. "Good! Minato-sensei said that my stamina is getting way better!" Then he started making funny faces. "Ohayo, Itachi-chan!"

Mikoto smiled, but nevertheless, she reached out and put a hand on Obito's head, stopping him. When he looked up at her in confusion, she said, "When your father returns, tell him I need to speak with him."

Obito blinked. "Tousan? Uh, okay. Is something wrong?"

"No, no." Mikoto ruffled his hair and let her hand drop. "Nothing that you need to worry about."