Kiri: Chapter 3

“Ryo-niisan!”

Looking up sharply, the man had barely enough time to drop the backpack he was carrying and catch the girl flying at him. She knocked the breath from his lungs as she glomped him soundly. Grunting in half-faked pain, Ryo studied her with a warm smile.

“Ayami-chan, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in class right now?” he asked as he squeezed her gently.

The younger girl shook her head, her straight black hair flying to the sides as her baby blue eyes danced in merriment. She backed away slightly tugging on Ryo’s hand and smiling cheerfully.

“Come on, oniisan! I have today off, and Mom said that I could come visit you all day today!”

“Oh she did, did she?” Ryo questioned affectionately as he stooped to pick up his backpack again. “And what makes you think I have time to spend with you today? I am a busy college student you know.”

“Oh what rot!” Ayami said, taking his teasing for what it was. She spun away from him on the ball of her left foot with her hands clasped behind her back, tilting her head to grin at him over her shoulder. “You don’t have that much of a life.”

Caught off guard at the words, Ryo burst out laughing. He tugged her close, kissing her on the temple. His smile was bright as they walked across the university’s campus, towards his apartment complex.

“That dress looks nice on you. Is it new?”

Ayami glanced down at her sundress of flowers done in multiple hues of blue. She nodded. “My boyfriend bought it for me yesterday.”

“You have a boyfriend?” Ryo asked looking down at his little sister with an arched eyebrow. He frowned slightly. “I’ve never met him before. I’m not sure I like this guy.”

The girl turned to give her brother a look that told him without words that she thought he was being stupid. “Of course you haven’t met him yet. He’s new, and you haven’t been to the house in two weeks. How could you have possibly met him? You’re never around anymore.”

Hearing the censure in her voice, Ryo grinned sheepishly. “So Mom sent you down here to check on me?”

“Yes,” Ayami said grinning at him widely.

“And am I to assume that you’re going to be trying to drag me back home tonight for dinner?”

“Oh without fail! Mom said that if I can get you to go home tonight that she’ll talk Dad into letting me go to Lake Tahoe for Christmas vacation this year,” Ayami said almost skipping beside her older brother.

Reaching over, Ryo plopped a hand on top of her head and proceeded to muss her hair up. Squealing, she ducked away, swatting at him, though causing no real damage.

“What was that for?”

“You’re using my lack of desire to be at home to extort favors from our parents!” Ryo accused playfully.

Nodding emphatically, Ayami grinned. “Of course!” She stepped close to slide an arm around his waist. “Now, how is school going? You’re eating well right? Still running?”

“School is fine. I’m eating, and if you honestly thought I would stop running, you’re completely insane,” Ryo said laying a hand on her shoulder and squeezing her gently. “My turn: how’s school?”

Dramatically, the younger girl sagged against him with a groan. “Oh Ryo-niisan, it’s absolutely, devastatingly boring!”

Leading the way across the main street around campus, Ryo shook his head. He pulled his keys out of his front pocket of his jeans as they entered his apartment complex and unlocked the door. There was a loud, purring meow as the gray devil cat, Kyon-Kyon, scampered out and arched his back as he rubbed against the girl’s bare legs.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Ryo walked into his small living room as his sister scooped up the cat and began scratching the little whore’s ears. He retreated into his bedroom setting his book bag down by his desk.

“There’s some juice in the refrigerator if you want some,” the man called as he toed off his shoes, kicking them toward the closet.

“I’m fine. Thanks for the offer though. You’ve got some messages on you answering machine. Can I listen to them?” Ayami called back at him.

Ryo’s face quirked at the utter ridiculousness of that statement but thought it necessary to call out a firm, “No!”

“Aw!”

The utter and completely false depression in his sister’s voice had him rolling his eyes again as he walked from his bedroom into the living room again. Ayami was sitting on the couch with the gray bundle of fur curled contentedly in her laps purring raucously. She smiled at him as he sat down on the chair across from her, and Ryo found his heart tightening slightly. School had been so busy lately that he had forgotten just how much he had missed her.

“So what was the deal with Mom again?” he asked propping up his feet on the coffee table.

Grinning mischievously, Ayami cocked her head to the side slightly. “She said that if I can get you to come home for dinner then I’ll get to go skiing with my friends over Christmas break.”

“For your senior trip?”

The girl nodded. “Trip, Keith, and Ben are going to be going, too, and you know how Dad is sometimes.” She paused to allow Ryo a wince of pure discomfort. “He’s adamant that I not go, and I’m adamant that I’m going. Mom, of course, is interceding on my behalf of course. She’s met all the guys, and she actually approves of Ben.”

Ryo cut in then. “Ben’s your new boyfriend?”

“Yeah, he’s also probably going to be our class’s valedictorian,” Ayami said before rolling her eyes with her next words. “You’d think that would be enough to pacify Dad, but no—he’s going to be just as stubborn and bull headed about this as he can be.”

“Well, he only wants what’s best for you,” Ryo said running his fingers though his hair with a slight raise of his shoulders. “He loves you very much—“

“And you.”

“And me,” Ryo conceded the jab at his relationship with their father. “If he’s a little overprotective, it should be forgiven. You’re his only baby girl. I can still remember times when he would get so upset because you’d fall down and scrap your knee. Mom’s pretty laid back, and Dad’s the worrier. That’s why he doesn’t want you to go. He’s afraid something will happen to you.”

Shaking her head, Ayami grimaced. “He’s just too overprotective. I’m not going to get hurt. It’s just going to be a week at a ski resort with my friends.”

“You’re preaching to the choir, Ayami-chan,” Ryo said soothingly.

Lifting his head, Kyon-Kyon looked at the kitchen door and then at Ryo. Rising to his feet, he leapt off the sundress covered legs to stretch languidly in the middle of the floor. His golden-green eyes turned again to his owner before he trotted off into the kitchen.

A smile spread over Ryo’s face, igniting a joyful light in his dark blue eyes. Coming to his own feet, he winked at his sister.

“And that, my dear, is what we call the ‘you will feed me now’ look.”

Ayami giggled softly as she rose and followed her brother into the kitchen. There was a soft beeping from the answering machine as Ryo set about preparing the cat’s food. Leaning back against the counter, the younger girl watched her brother with concerned blue eyes.

“So you will come home tonight with me?” Her voice was gentle and held a note that caused Ryo to glance up sharply. “Mom really misses you, and even though he won’t show it, I know Dad does, too. I’d really like you to meet Ben too.”

“He’s going to be there?” At Ayami’s nod, Ryo turned back to the cat food and set it down on the floor for the kitten. He stood up again, his face thoughtful. Finally, he nodded slowly—a deep frown furrowing his brow. “I’ll come.”

At the relief that washed over his sister’s face, Ryo felt a small trill of guilt. He walked over and hugged her tightly. Pressing a cheek to the crown of her black hair, he smiled broadly.

“And as a special treat to you, I’ll even bring my violin, okay?” Ryo felt her nod against his chest and sighed stepping back a little.

“I hope you haven’t forgotten how to play,” Ayami teased, trying to lighten the somber mood again.

Grinning impishly, Ryo replied, “Well, it won’t be my ears being assaulted if I have. I do kind of pity Ben though. To think that his only picture of my talent will be of a screeching fiddle.” He sighed deeply, placing his hand over his heart in a pose of deep remorse. “The poor, poor thing.”

The answering machine beeped again, completely ruining the dramatic flair of Ryo’s act, and as Ayami giggled behind her hand, he crossed the room with a growl to check the messages.

“Ryo? It’s Skye Daniels—“

Ayami’s eyebrow shot up at the female voice on the machine. “You’ve got a girlfriend?”

“No,” Ryo said rolling his eyes at her.

“—I was wondering if I could ask you another favor. Mark and I are taking Brittany to visit his mother this weekend. Would it be possible to let Kite spend the weekend with you? I know it’s a lot to ask, but he doesn’t want to go with us, and I worry about him being alone for so long. Please call me back.”

Ryo quickly wrote down the number she gave and played the message again to make sure he got it right. Nodding, he erased the message and allowed the second one to play.

“Um… hi… it’s Kite… um… you said I could call if I needed a ride… um… and I need a ride home from work tonight… so if it’s not a bother, do you think you can come pick me up? I get off at ten so um… if you can, thanks, and if not, um… just call, and I’ll get a ride with my boss or somebody… um… yeah… thanks.”

Leaning up on the counter beside her brother, Ayami looked up at him. “Well? So who’s this Skye person and who’s Kite?”

“Mrs. Daniels,” Ryo emphasized his words with a sharp look at his sister. “ She was my English teacher in high school.”

“Oh, you mean the one who really got you into writing?”

Ryo nodded as he picked up the phone. “Kite’s her little brother,” he said as he dialed the number she had given.

“So why is she asking you to look after him?”

“Because—Hello, is Mrs. Daniels there?” Ryo asked, breaking off his other thread of thought. Ayami huffed slightly turning her back to the countertop and crossing her arms over her chest. She remained so for only a few moments, however, before she turned and got a glass down from the cabinet above her and retrieved the orange juice from the refrigerator.

Speaking with his former teacher for nearly ten minutes, Ryo finally hung up the phone with a small smile. He glanced at his sister to find her staring at him in amusement.

“What?”

“Isn’t Mrs. Daniels the one you had the crush on in high school?” she asked bluntly before laughing at his blush.

Waving the telephone at Ayami threateningly, Ryo tried unsuccessfully to glare at her. “Yes, I did, but I don’t anymore. Besides the fact that she’s married with kids, I see her as a friend now.”

“Uh-huh.”

Ryo could tell by the tone of her voice that she didn’t believe him, but he shrugged turning the phone on again to call the pet shop where Kite was working. He talked to the boy for only a minute before assuring him that he could drive him home tonight.

“What? You’re not going to tell him that he’s going to be spending the night with you?” Ayami teased, and Ryo caught her in a headlock after setting the phone on the counter.

“Brat! You keep a civil tongue in your head or I’ll skip dinner tonight and let you suffer Dad’s verdict on your own,” Ryo threatened ruffling her hair.

“I give! I give!” the girl cried batting him away and then scooping up the cat who had come to investigate the disturbance in his kitchen. “You will come to dinner right?”

“I said I would, didn’t I?” Ryo retorted as he walked from the kitchen into his bedroom.

Shooting a cool look after him, Ayami called back, “You also just threatened not to go with me!”

Ryo immerged a few minutes later wearing black slacks and a white button-up dress shirt. He raked his fingers though his hair and arched an eyebrow at his little sister. “You wound me. Are you ready to go?”

The girl nodded and sat the cat down. “Yeah, don’t forget your violin.”

“Ah, that’s right,” Ryo said ducking back into his room to retrieve his case. He looked at his sister for a long moment before sighing. “You didn’t bring your car did you?”

With a wide grin, Ayami shook her head. “It was Mom’s idea. She said that way you’d have to come home for at least a little while.”

“Sounds like you and Mom are plotting against me today,” Ryo said. He shook his head slightly as the girl agreed with him happily. He held the door open for her and threw the cat back into the living room as he tried to dart out around their ankles. “Then I guess I have no choice. Let’s go.”

***
End Chapter 3
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