hugtopia_logs | happy birthday to u

Entry tags:

happy birthday to u

♥ Who: sad rawna kids, maybe less sad other people
♥ Where: rawna’s house
♥ When: 7/4-7/8
♥ What: canon update party
♥ Rating: prolly pg for intense worry

This was not how the afternoon was supposed to go.

It was really just supposed to be a little lounge in the afternoon. Kai had taken Bug out for a little romp in the sunshine, let the little guy stretch its… uh… rind? Get its roll on. Enjoy that one patch of grass for a while, a fruitbug needed some quality time outside sometimes, probably. Kai did at least. Playing with the orange eventually devolved into just sitting around for a bit as it rolled around, and that eventually led to laying back to watch the clouds roll by. Had there been any plans for dinner? Was the kind of idle thought that passed by. Maybe when all three of them were home, they could try making oyakodon or something together. That seemed like a good time.

When idle thoughts and lazy clouds became a nap, he didn’t know.

He didn’t wake up when Rawna’s priests came and picked him up. He didn’t wake up when Bug squeaked at them either, so he missed all the erratic circles it rolled around them as they went off to the temple.

It rolled all the way there, and all the way back, rolling around in obvious circles in the yard until someone it knew came home. Was it you? Yes? Well, better follow that fruit cuz there it went down the road to Rawna’s house.

The priests were kind of expecting them. Even with the mishaps that had happened, Rawna’s priests were familiar enough with this group to know that there was one pertinent reason Shinji or Kyoko would have shown up right now…. Even if they didn’t yet. Yes, their friend was this way. Yes, they could visit with him.

He didn’t wake up then, either.

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They absolutely would have done the same in the opposite situation. They absolutely would have insisted it was no trouble. Kai is right on the money. They can still have their worries in this situation, though!

The food is, however, a very good distraction. Yeah... yeah. Let's eat. Shinji settles in to the idea, offering a soft, "Thank you for the food," before carefully going for one of those tamagoyaki rolls. Let's just take a bite, and...

Ah. Ahhh.

There's definitely something that's so much more fulfilling about having a bite of food that's not just been lovingly crafted for his and Kyoko's benefit, but the very idea of the three of them, all of them getting the opportunity to eat together again. An extra bit of warmth works its way into his heart and any protests he may have had left about Kai working too hard quietly vanish. This, right here, this small meal with all three of them, after such stressful and uncertain days, this was worth so, so much.

He has to pause after just that one bite to process it all, but then he gives a tiny nod. Yes, this is good. The bite is chewed, and swallowed, before he speaks up softly,

"You did a good job, Kai."

Soup was good for people that hadn't had too much more to eat than he did, either. And if there was anything he made that he actually had any confidence in, it was those soft egg rolls. None of it was big or fancy, but none of them needed anything big or fancy right now. Just a little something, together.

Hunger was the best seasoning, but even more so was good company, especially when it was as sweet as them. That overwhelming feeling was coming around again, and Kai ducked his head a little as he crossed the back of his hand over his eyes.

"Cool. I mean, good. Yeah."

Despite her protests, once she was sat down, Kyoko had dove right into that soup, taking deep sips as a warm contentedness settled over her. Ah... yes, this is exactly right. They were all home now.

Before she could think too deeply about the implications of that stray thought, Kaito had her attention again. He... wasn't just rubbing his eyes, was he?

Setting her bowl down, Kyoko quietly reached over to rest her fingertips against the hand that wasn't busy attending to his face. "It's been a while, huh?"

Kaito...

Something like this is to be expected, honestly, even if they don't yet know what sorts of things Kai may have experienced while he was away from them. Shinji frees up a hand in order to reach over and sink his fingers into Kai's hair. It's all right, let it out if you need to.

"A long while..." A handful of long, agonizing days for them, a number of probably very lonely weeks for Kai. A warm meal with kind company after that long... that's going to be a lot. "We're here now."

Here he thought he was going to get that feeling under control, but it turned out that that was Wrong. Kai shut his eyes tight, pressing the heel of his hand against one as he sucked in a breath. He wanted to lean into that touch of his hair. He wanted to turn his hand to hold hers. He didn't quite get to either.

"Mmm." He smiled a little. "I'm real glad to be home."

What had he seen while he slept? Kyoko wondered again. It would be fine if he never told her, but she didn't think she would ever be able to stifle the worry in her heart.

Kyoko settled her hand more fully over his, determined to see him through regardless. "... Mm. We missed you."

Shinji won't put aside the hope that Kai feels comfortable telling them eventually, but he's more than willing to be patient about it. Those tears... even though they're clearly good tears, he can't help but worry as well. What did they mean for what he dealt with for those weeks?

Jeez. At least Kai's back here where he can be taken care of like he deserves.

"Right." They missed him terribly, but he's sure they don't need to drive that point home any further. His hand smooths over Kai's hair more meaningfully, giving his scalp a gentle little rub. "You're right where you belong, with the two of us."

More than being here, in Havenwell, in this house, by their sides is where he should be.

"I am," he agreed softly. This time he leaned into that rub with a sigh. He turned his hand so he could gently hold hers. It's what he'd meant. As long as they were there, he was home. Didn't matter where. "Missed you too."

This was enough now, he told himself. Wiping his eyes a bit more, Kai took a large breath and eased it out. He looked between them after he opened his eyes, grateful for their patience and affections. He gave Kyoko's hand a squeeze, and reached over to ruffle Shinji's hair right back.

"... Thanks. M'fine. C'mon, let's eat up."

Skeptical though she was about how "fine" Kaito actually was, Kyoko knew this wasn't the moment to press. Better to just quietly return that squeeze, before releasing his hand.

"It'd be a waste not to," she agreed gently. "Since this is a special occasion and all."

"Mmhm." Shinji drops his hand down to give Kai's back a small pat before withdrawing it once more, so that he can continue to eat this lovingly prepared meal.

"Gotta celebrate the first day back of our favorite person." Is it... presumptuous of him to assume that on Kyoko's behalf? His still sleepy mind doesn't stop to think about it too hard, but if she was willing to sit by his bedside for so many days in a row, then it doesn't seem to be too far fetched of a thought.

A special occasion. Their favorite. He knew that was true on one account, but...

"Geez," Kai said softly. Hands free now, he picked up his soup to hide the burning of his cheeks.

Favorite person... Well, Shinji was the one to say it, so it was fine, but...! Kyoko also went with the hide-behind-soup route.

It was probably best to keep the conversation light anyway, so that's what she would do for the rest of the meal, only occasionally fussing at one boy or another to make sure he was truly eating enough.

No protests, huh? Maybe if Shinji weren't too preoccupied with trying to shake off that sleepy fog from his brain, maybe he'd think about that a little bit. On the other hand, if he weren't still bogged down with fatigue, he probably wouldn't have said it in the first place.

Maybe something to remember and consider when he's more alert, or maybe not. The food in front of them is more important, either way. Time to quietly pack away the meal in front of them, in that case. Thank you for food, Kai.

A well deserved, much needed meal for everyone. Let it soothe their souls and give them strength as much as the good and gentle conversation they had. It was nice. They had all needed something as simple and good as this after everything else.

Now that things had reached a steadier baseline, there wasn't really a good reason not to talk about things. The temptation was there to leave it until the morning, but Kai was pretty sure if he left it alone, it'd just stay right there. It was better to just do it now. Let tomorrow be a better day without these things weighing it down.

Leaning back a bit, Kai gave Shinji a soft, somber look. It'd make more sense in a moment here as Kai looked over at Kyoko, asking, "Never told you why I was in juvie, did I?"

Kyoko had stood up to gather their dishes, and was thinking about telling the boys to go on ahead back to bed, when Kaito spoke up. Still reaching for Shinji's bowl, she met his eyes and went still at the look in them.

"Um," That sure was a thing to suddenly bring up, "no, but... it's fine." He didn't have to, even now, not if he didn't want to. "I... don't mind either way."

That sure does sound like a segue into possibly learning about what Kai might have experienced over the past few days. That's where he'd been right before he came here in the first place, right? Shinji's a bit more privy to the details, and feeling much more alert than when they had all sat down, so he's the one who should be taking care of cleanup while Kyoko gets brought up to speed.

He gives Kai's arm a warm pat before carefully sliding in to take Kyoko's dishes. "I've got this," he comments quietly, you two keep talking without him for a bit.

Kai offered her a grateful smile, small as it was. "It wasn't for anything awful," he assured her. "Things will make more sense if you know."

Shinji got another warm look in turn and a soft thanks. Taking the dish burden is appreciated so Kai could burden her with other things. He made a motion for her to take a seat again. Waiting for her gave him another chance to consider which parts were important. The secrets... probably were, for later parts. He hummed, continuing when she was ready.

"Do you know what an ajin is?"

For a moment, Kyoko looked like she wanted to protest being relieved of dish duty--because she did! She had it! Shinji should just rest and hold his boyfriend's hand or something!

But when Kaito pushed on with that little smile, her objections died down in her throat. With a quiet word of thanks to Shinji, Kyoko sat down next to Kaito again, brow creasing with worry.

Honestly and truly, Kyoko didn't care what he'd done to land in jail. She knew who he was, and she knew how she felt about him; nothing else was really important. But if he wanted to share this part of himself with her... well, she couldn't help a little curiosity.

"A...jin?" Another little wrinkle knit her brow. Should she know that word? "No... I don't think so?"

"Kinda figured," Kai said with a small nod. "If your Japan--" or Earth, really-- "had 'em, I'm sure you woulda heard. We get lessons on 'em in school, when they show up in the news it's a big deal, I guess..."

He shrugged a little. "They're immortals, basically. People that can't die. S'really the only difference between them and any other person. Anyway, my friend Kei found out he was one by accident."

All this time she'd known Kaito, and though she'd known they were from different Japans, it somehow hadn't ever occurred to her to wonder if his was different from hers in any fantastical ways.

Immortals at least was a pretty easy concept to grasp--maybe even a little boring, compared to other worlds. Kyoko nodded slowly, brow still creased. She couldn't see how this connected to Kaito ending up in juvie yet, but she was listening. "By accident... so you mean he... almost died?" she asked carefully. "That's scary..."

"S'gotta be all the way," Kai corrected gingerly. "It was a traffic accident. Happened in front of people, so there was no keeping it a secret that he got up. Just like that... everyone forgot he was a person, acting like something dangerous had escaped containment or something."

He frowned deeply.

"So I tried to help him get out of there."

So it was a case of dying and then coming back, instead of just being impervious to anything that might be fatal? That was definitely more horrifying than what she'd imagined, but if Kaito hadn't lost his friend, that was the most important thing.

Though there was another detail here Kyoko wasn't quite sure she understood. Her thoughtful frown almost mirrored Kaito's. "You said... everyone already knows about them, though, right? That not dying is the only thing different about them?" But they were treated as something else?

... She could believe that. "What... happened to him? --If it's something you can say."

"Right. S'why everything that happened was bullshit." Completely expected bullshit.

"... I didn't know what happened for a while. He took off on his own after that first night. The cops caught up with me after that. Got charges for assaulting an officer and being Kei's accomplice in his escape." He sighed, tilting his head towards the ceiling.

"No news was good news though. The whole damn country was looking for him, cuz I guess he's only the third one in Japan or somethin'? So as long as the news was saying they were still looking for him... meant he was still okay somewhere."

What a reason to get locked up. Kyoko sucked in a breath and then, frown darkening, looked down at her hands resting on the table, where they'd curled into fists. For a long moment, there was just quiet fury.

But all this information was still turning carefully over in her head. There was a point to Kaito telling her all this now, and she thought she was starting to grasp where he was going with it.

"... But you did hear something about him, didn't you? While you were sleeping."

Ah. Even if he'd seen it before, it still threw him off when he saw her get so angry on his behalf. There was a quiet moment of deliberation first, but then his hand settled gently over one of her fists. Just long enough to get his sentiment across. Thank you.

"Mmm. Woke up around when I had those fights." They would both be correct on which one he was talking about. "For a while it was just... all the same stuff day in and day out.

Kai leaned back a bit, looking back to see what the boyfriend dishes status was. Come back, Shinji. "He showed up on the news twice. The first time was 'cuz he'd fallen off a building a terrorist attack was taking place? Another ajin stirring shit up, I guess? I dunno, Kei got away in a van, didn't catch where it was. Then he showed up again at Iruma's air base."

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