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Chapter Nine — It is Dark Every Inch Ahead

The moment Kyoko awoke, she regretted letting Tenzo use his mokuton in their spars the night before. Or at least, the blooming pain in her side regretted it. Kyoko hissed and hiked up her shirt, exposing the blue and purple painted across the right side of her chest. When she moved, it became a little hard to breathe.

"Should've dodged that tree," she muttered, bringing up her hand and summoning iryo-chakra to sooth the injury away. Once the colors had faded to something more dull, she tugged her shirt down and got to her feet. Pacing out into the hallway, she called, "Shisui? I'm going to make breakfast! Do you want some?"

There wasn't an answer.

Kyoko opened his door. "Shisui? Oh." His bed was already made for the day. She rubbed her eyes. "Early start," she muttered. But when she glanced at the clock on his wall, she groaned. "Or a late one for me." She worked at her sore neck and shuffled into the kitchen, grateful that she had the day off and so at least didn't have anything to be late to.

Between her yawning and stiff muscles, she decided against actually making something and instead dug through the fridge until she came up with a container of onigiri. Popping off the lid, she shut the fridge with her foot and turned. With the container in one hand, she selected an onigiri and dug in, shambling over to the table. She paused, squinting at the paper on the tabletop. Shisui had left a note for her? Kyoko shoved the rest of the onigiri in her mouth to free up her hand and picked up the note.

She dropped the container and was running before it even hit the ground. The moment she was out the front door, she shot forward in a shunshin and then another and another before she stumbled up onto the engawa. She threw open the door. "Fugaku-sama!"

"Kyoko-chan?" Mikoto called. There was a clatter of dishes and then Mikoto appeared farther down the hallway, wiping her hands on her apron. "Is something wrong?" she asked, frowning.

"Where is he? Obasan, where is—"

"He's at the station. Why? What's—"

Kyoko turned and took off again at full speed. She didn't stop to apologize when she knocked people over as she ran. She slammed the door to the station open, drawing the attention of everyone inside. "Fugaku-sama! Where is—"

"Kyoko, behave yourself."

She snapped her stare to the side to find him approaching her left. "Have you seen Shisui?" she demanded, thrusting the note at him.

"Pardon?"

"Shisui. Where is he?"

Fugaku frowned at her and took the paper. As he looked it over, the furrow in his brow deepened. Then he turned and marched away, barking out, "Saori! Get a tracking team together! Now!"

"Kyoko?"

She lifted her head and blinked up at him. "Kakashi?" she mumbled. "What are you doing here?"

He frowned and then glanced at the door she was sitting next to. "What are they doing now?"

"Preparing the body," she croaked. "They already finished the autopsy."

"How long have you been here?"

She shrugged, resting her head back against the wall and letting her eyes close. "Couple hours, I think. What time is it now?"

"It's nine."

"Oh." She opened her eyes to squint at him. "Eleven hours, then."

"Kami, Kyoko," he muttered, crouching down in front of her so he could look at her eye-to-eye. "Have you eaten today?"

"Um . . . . I, I found his note during breakfast, actually."

"Note?" he breathed. "Oh, kami, I didn't realize—"

"Don't," she interrupted, pleading. Kyoko dragged her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She lowered her head to rest it on her arms. "Please."

"Okay."

A hand rested on her back, and Kyoko froze. When the weight started to pull away, Kyoko leaned into him. "Thank you," she mumbled.

Kakashi eased his arm the rest of the way around her and held her tightly. "Do you . . . um, do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Okay. Do you want to go home?"

She flinched. "No."

"You can't stay here. You need to eat. Sleep." He reached down with his free hand and tapped her ankle. "And you should be wearing shoes."

"I left in a hurry."

"Yeah, I figured. C'mon." He gripped her hand and climbed to his feet. "You won't have to walk, but you really can't stay here. Up."

Kyoko stared blankly up at him for a long moment before obeying and dragging herself to her feet. She didn't have it in her to protest when he hauled her onto his back. "Where are we going?" she whispered, dropping her head down to his shoulder.

"My place. Unless you do actually want to go home?"

"No," she begged, closing her eyes. "Please. He's not there. I don't want to go home."

"Okay." He tightened his grip on her. "My place it is, then."

Kyoko didn't say anything to that, struggling to stay awake against the way his steps rocked her back and forth. Finally, it stopped, and she jerked back to reality when his hold on her changed. She fumbled and caught herself as he set her down on the couch. Kakashi paused, hands hovering at her shoulders.

"You good?"

"I— Yeah."

"Okay. Give me a second."

Kyoko watched as Kakashi started digging through the kitchen. When something bumped against her elbow, she looked down and tried to dredge up a smile. "Hi, Pakkun."

"Hey, kid. Give me room here."

She blinked and then lifted her hands. "Sorry."

He didn't say anything to that, climbing into her lap and settling down there. When Kyoko brought her hands back down to start scratching at his ears, Pakkun let out a satisfied sigh.

"He only likes you because you spoil him," Kakashi murmured. "Here."

She looked up to find him holding out a cup of tea. "Oh, thank you." She took it, eying the bowl and rag he was holding in his other hand. "What's that for?"

"You cut your feet," he pointed out, kneeling down. "I'm just gonna bandage them for now, okay?"

Her throat felt raw and too small. "Okay," she choked out.

Kakashi didn't say anything as he worked, cleaning away the dirt and blood with gentle hands and replacing them with an ointment that stung. It was as he was wrapping her feet in bandages that she finally broke the silence.

"I don't want to go home," she rasped. "And I don't want to sleep. If I close my eyes, then I'll— He's—"

"Okay. Don't worry. You're here, and I'll stay up with you."

She flinched. "You don't have—"

"I want to."

When Kyoko looked at him, he was staring at her with a frown marring the visible parts of his face. Then it softened. "Just . . . let me help. Please," he begged.

And really, what could she say to that?

"Okay."