Kiri: Chapter 2

“I can’t believe you walked here,” Kite grumbled as he trudged along beside Ryo with his heavy backpack. They were now almost two miles from school, and he was breathing heavily from the unexpected work out.

The Asian man shrugged slightly adjusting his own backpack. “I can honestly say that I wasn’t expecting to get asked to drive anywhere.” His dark blue eyes shot down to the boy in concern. “Are you positive you don’t want me to carry that for a while? It really wouldn’t be too much trouble, and it would give you a breather.”

Kite shook his head sharply. “I’m fine.”

Making a non-committal noise, Ryo turned his eyes back on the ground before him. He doubted very much the boy was used to such long distances especially with, if the teachers now were as bad as the teachers he had had, the thirty pounds of books in the backpack. He had made the offer several times to take the bag from the boy, but every time he was refused. The blue eyes narrowed slightly as the reoccurring thought flickered though his mind that the boy was actually enjoying his guilt.

Clearing his throat, the taller man tried once again to start up a conversation. “You won’t be late for work will you?”

“No,” Kite said shortly. A moment passed, and Ryo sighed giving that up for a lost cause when the boy continued in a kinder tone of voice. “I don’t have to be there for another hour. I usually get there early so I can play with the new animals.”

“Where do you work?” Ryo’s voice held an encouraging note. This was the most information the youth had offered freely that wasn’t a complaint against walking.

Kite turned his head to the side to glance up at the older man. He half shrugged, apparently deciding that it was too much effort to continue being quiet. “Do you know the pet shop off of Count Drive?”

“The one with the exotic animals?”

When the auburn head bobbed once in ascent, Ryo whistled softly. “Wow. I go in there every once in a while. I can’t really afford anything from there, but I love looking at the animals. The cats are my favorite. I’m still trying to figure out how the owner is able to keep the larger ones there.”

“Justin had some strings pulled in the court house,” Kite said with a grin. “I like the cats a lot, but I love all of the animals equally.” He paused for a moment thoughtfully. “If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Brutus.”

“Brutus?” Ryo repeated with a raised eyebrow.

With a sideways grin, Kite nodded. “Brutus is the little Pomeranian puppy we just got in last week. I’m trying to talk Skye into letting me get him.” The boy’s face fell slightly. “I don’t think I’ll be able to though. Mark doesn’t like little dogs. He says they just make too much noise, and he doesn't want to disturb the baby. I think Brittany would like to have a puppy.”

Ryo had to fight a grin at the utter petulance of the boy’s tone. He reached over and ruffled the reddish-brown hair. “Daijoubu,” he said with a small grin.

“Huh?” Kite stopped and turned to stare at the Asian man. “Die—what?”

Laughing, then, Ryo shook his head. “Sorry, sorry! I forgot who I was with. Daijoubu—um… It means ‘it’s alright’,” he explained.

After a slightly distrustful frown, the boy shrugged and started walking beside him again. Looking up at the sky, the black-haired man sighed slightly, his smile fading a little. The friendly open air seemed gone between them, and they walked in silence again until Ryo’s apartment complex came into sight.

Turning to point this out to the boy, Ryo was startled when he spoke first.

“What language was that?”

“Eh? Oh, it’s Japanese,” the man explained. “We’re here. I need to take care of Kyon-Kyon really quickly. Do you want to get something to drink.”

“Sure,” Kite said as he was lead up the stairs to the second floor. His eyes were narrowed slightly in thought as he waited for the man to finish fumbling with his keys and unlock the door. “You’re from Japan?”

“No,” Ryo said as he finally found the right key and opened the door. He stepped inside and was immediately set upon by a streak of gray fur. Scooping up the loudly meowing kitten, he waved his hand at the couch. “You can sit your backpack there.”

Doing so, Kite turned to study the Asian man with a penetrating green gaze. “But you are Japanese right?”

Pushing the front door closed with his foot, the black-haired man nodded, scratching the now purring cat behind its huge ears. “My father is from Japan, and my mother’s grandmother is from there. Do you mind holding him for a minute while I fix his food?”

Kite shook his head and accepted the gray short hair cat. His mild irritation evaporated immediately as he began to pet the small head. “He’s—what—about six months old?”

“About that,” Ryo said moving into the kitchen. Kite followed a moment later with the happy cat. “I picked him up at the Humane Society about two months ago. The vet said that’s about how old he should be.”

Kite frowned slightly. “I don’t like the Humane Society,” he said softly.

“Mm? I do,” Ryo said as he set about refilling the dry cat food in the small dish by the refrigerator. “They take in the strays and try to find them good loving homes. Besides if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have Kyon.”

“I still don’t like them. They put them to sleep if no one wants them,” the auburn haired boy said unhappily.

“That’s true,” Ryo admitted, his movements slowing to a stop. He turned to lean a hip against the countertop. His eyes were clouded as he studied the kitten in Kite’s arms. “But… They do what they can. If people would just be responsible for their pets, there wouldn’t be such a problem, but…”

Ryo’s smile was sad as he looked up at Kite. “But I’m glad I got to save one life.”

Guilt flooded the boy, and he ducked his head to stare at the kitten. A moment passed in an awkward silence before Ryo moved. Setting the food container back down on the floor in the corner, he sighed then grinned.

“Well, what do you want to drink?” he asked brightly moving to the refrigerator and opening the door. “I don’t have a lot of selection. Um… Let’s see, we’ve got the choice of orange juice, milk, water, and I’ve got some tea that can be made if you would like that.”

Looking up, Ryo caught the boy’s upraised eyebrow, and he grinned sheepishly. “I don’t drink soft drinks. Sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Kite said with a small laugh. The kitten struggled finally, and he bent down to set it on the floor and watched as it scampered over to the food bowl. He looked up smiling. “Milk would be nice.”

Nodding, Ryo turned to pull open a cabinet and take down a glass. As he retrieved the jug of milk, he glanced at the boy curiously.

“I didn’t know, Mrs. Daniels had a brother,” he commented, a note of his curiosity entering his voice.

Kite raised one shoulder in a shrug before he accepted the glass from the man. “We have several siblings actually. I’m the youngest.”

“Do you live near her?”

“I live with her,” Kite said then sipped his drink as the blue eyes widened in shock. “I’ve lived with her for—” He counted slowly on his fingers. “I think it’s been about three years now.”

“Oh,” Ryo said. He ducked his head to the side. “I’m sorry.”

“What was it?” Kite smiled at Ryo’s curious expression. “Daijoubu?”

The Asian man’s face split into a wide grin. “Yes, daijoubu.” As the silence fell, he turned to put the milk away. “When you’re ready to go, we can.”

A few minutes later, Kite sat the empty glass on the countertop near the sink. He turned to look at Ryo expectantly, and the older man ushered the boy from the kitchen.

Ryo lifted the boy’s backpack as they passed it despite his protests. He shook his head and placed a hand as the small of his back, guiding him out the door. Turning to lock it behind him, he smiled slightly.

“Mine is the little red one at the bottom of the steps, if you want to go on down,” Ryo said giving the boy a slight push.

“I can carry my backpack,” Kite growled softly, but Ryo shook his head and forced him on down the stairs.

When they reached the bottom step, Kite stopped in his tracks and pointed. “That’s your car?”

A wide grin broke over the young man’s face, and he nodded as he unlocked the door and sat the backpack into the back seat of the red Nissan 240sx. He held the door open for the boy and closed it as he sat down. Circling around to the driver’s side, he got into the car and fastened his seatbelt. He could feel the green eyes on him as he cranked the engine.

“Yes?” Ryo’s grin was wide as he looked over to meet the boy’s gaze.

“Are you rich or something?” The boy asked in amazement. “Aren’t college students supposed to be poor or something?”

Laughing, Ryo backed out of his parking place. “Where ever did you hear that little misleading fact? I’m not so much rich as I am lucky. My first novel brought in enough money to allow me to get this.”

“Your novel?” Kite repeated, his eyebrows drawing together. “It wasn’t ‘Ring of Lies’ was it?”

“No, no, no!” Ryo shook his head quickly. He laughed softly, grinning. “I can’t believe you actually know that one by name. You were at Snyder when I published that one were you?”

Kite shook his head negatively.

“I didn’t think so. You’re what? A sophomore?” When Kite nodded, Ryo continued. “I thought so. I really didn’t think anyone would remember that little thing.”

The young boy turned his head to gaze out the window as they sped down the road towards town. “Skye gave me a copy of it.”

“Ah, yeah, I keep forgetting that you’re her brother,” Ryo said bouncing the heel of his hand off the side of his head. “Anyway, the book is called The Heartwood Pendant. It was released about six months ago, and it’s done pretty well so far. It’s not a best seller, but it turns me a pretty penny.”

“I would say so,” Kite said looking around the interior of the sports car. He glanced over at the Asian author. “What is it about?”

Chuckling, Ryo glanced over out of the corner of his eye. “Do you really want to know?”

“Yeah.” Kite’s voice held a note of embarrassment. “I really liked reading ‘Ring’.”

“Well, it’s definitely not like that one,” Ryo said, pleasure slowly flooding into his mind, and he smiled contentedly. “Heartwood is a fantasy story. Um… mostly dealing with a young woman trying to rebuild her life after her village disappeared.”

“Disappeared? What do you mean? What happened to it?” Kite’s voice was eager.

Laughing, Ryo shook his head. “Oh, no. No, you don’t. If you want to know what happens, I’ll give you a copy, and you can read it for yourself. Deal?”

Kite nodded with a small pout. He glanced at his watch quickly and frowned. “I need to be there in fifteen minutes.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll be there in time. I’m really sorry about making you walk so far,” the older man said turning onto a side street and then onto Count Drive. “See? We’ll be there in about five minutes.”

“Good.” Kite unbuckled his seatbelt and reached into the backseat to pull out a pair of slightly faded blue jeans from his backpack. Settling back into his seat, he glanced at Ryo. “You don’t mind do you?”

The man shook his head, carefully paying attention to the road around him as the boy stripped out of his shorts and pulled on the jeans. A few minutes later, he guided his car over to the side of the street into a parking lot. He stopped the car, and the auburn haired youth quickly got out grabbing his backpack from the back seat.

“If you ever need a ride again, give me a call alright?”

“What’s your number?” Kite asked, leaning on the car to look at the man.

Sighing heavily, Ryo dug out a piece of paper from his back pocket and pulled a pen from the glove box. He quickly scribbled out his name and phone number on the paper and handed it over to the boy.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t forget I’ve promised you that book. If I don’t see you before I see your sister, I’ll give it to her to give to you, okay?” Ryo said grinning.

Kit nodded. “Thanks, and thanks for the ride. Bye.”

“Take care.”

Ryo winced slightly as the door was slammed closed. He watched the messy auburn hair as the boy made his way to the side door of the pet shop and entered. Sighing heavily, the man pulled back out into the stream of traffic and headed towards his apartment complex again. It was going to be quiet when he got there. So unusual it was to have visitors in the small space. Ryo had to admit that it felt nice—especially since the boy seemed so interested in his writings.

When he arrived back at his home, the man entered and gathered his kitten as he made his way back to the second bedroom he had converted into a library. There were four bookshelves filled completely with books of all different sizes and shapes. Everything from Mark Twain to his Biology 101 book resided here.

Settling onto the love seat under the window, Ryo stretched out, his legs hanging over the arm rests. He closed his eyes, picturing the youth again in his mind. That bright smile that seemed to hide something—some dark something that he was not likely to find out in the near future.

Sighing heavily, the dark haired man closed his eyes wearily. Kyon-Kyon leapt up lightly onto his chest and after a moment of kneading the loose material of his shirt, fell asleep, lulling Ryo to dreams soon afterwards.

***
End Chapter 2
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