hugtopia_logs | happy birthday to u

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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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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."

His touch made something tighten in her chest, but her hands at least relaxed. When he drew his away, she tucked them down in her lap, and then took another soft breath as he went on.

Now was the time to listen to Kaito's story, since he wanted to share it, so she would push that anger back, out of the way. She wasn't sure what all this news about falling off buildings and being in places would have meant for a locked up Kaito--except, well: "That... must have been frustrating, having to just hear about it from afar."

Luckily, Shinji had been keeping an ear on the conversation and his cleanup process as quiet as he can manage, so once he hears that 'while you were sleeping' comment from Kyoko, he hurries to put his work on pause. Here he comes, ready to hear about terrorist ajin stirring up trouble and Kei slipping in and out of the public eye.

Kyoko might be entirely in the dark about what might have happened next, but a particular memory that had been waiting on the edge of Shinji's thoughts for a while now comes back to the forefront once more. Is this, by some chance, leading up to some kind of impossible prison break...?

He lets his hand come to a rest at Kai's back, a quiet announcement of his arrival. He is here now, and he's ready to listen to what comes next.

This was indeed leading up to such unbelievable things!

"Yeah," Kai murmured. "But I had a guy. He promised if anything big happened to Kei, he could get me out. Didn't know what he meant at the time but..." He tilt his head back, looking knowingly up at Shinji. Hello. "You saw it. It actually happened."

Then he looked at Kyoko, because she hadn't seen it, gesturing as he talked. "We were on outside duty. He told me to just run at the wall as fast as I could. I did, cuz ok, but once I nearly got there...!" He waved his hand up like a conductor, imitating the leap over those tall walls.

"I have no idea how, but I flew right over the wall. Something was flying me somewhere, but I couldn't see nothin'. Heard Kotobuki talking to me though. He only got me so far, so I uh.... borrowed somebody's bike to try and go the rest of the way."

Shinji... saw it? Kyoko was stuck in her confusion for a moment, before it occurred to her--right, there had been plenty of occasions for that kind of thing, it wouldn't be strange if Kaito and Shinji had been through a few together.

By the time she'd pieced all that together, the story was already progressing. Progressing to even more confusing places, in fact. Kaito? Don't just run at walls?? Hey now?? And even with someone as easily accepting of supernatural elements as Kyoko, you couldn't just introduce flight out of nowhere!

Please forgive her for taking a really long time to react to all of this, she's processing. After a moment, Kyoko slowly turned to look at Shinji.

"He... he," she pointed at Him, "flew? You saw it?"

Feel free to be alarmed, Shinji certainly was upon seeing Kaito running full tilt at a giant, solid wall. Hell, even Kai himself was pretty shocked at even that much! It didn't compare to the sight that followed it, but. running straight at a wall, huh.

"He did!" He can confirm! "Like something just picked him up and," he raises his free hand and makes a little 'zip!' gesture with his pointer finger - right into the air! "Lifted him up and over."

That's really as far as he'd seen in that... memory? Prophecy? The scene the trip of VR mountain had rewarded them with. It's good to hear a little more context for it, even if it doesn't necessarily clear up a whole lot. It still sounds about as confusing for everyone involved as it had when Shinji had seen it, but knowing that there was a deliberate plan and culprit behind it... somehow... was reassuring in its own way.

"Yeah!" Kai said, pointing at Shinji's pointing. "Like that. I still dunno how he did it, I never asked." There was a guess, but he wasn't sure how it really related to flying? There was never a good chance to ask, and whatever. That was Kotobuki's business. The only answer he'd ever gotten from him was how he'd escaped prison in the first place, and that was because of this whole thing.

"It was good to get a ride for a bit of the way though. The air base was pretty far, by the time I got there everything was already crazy. The bad guy had been... I think he'd been flying fighter jets into different spots around the country? Gotta admit I wasn't paying a lot of attention to that part." He'd been pretty one-track minded at the time.

"Guess the last spot was the base itself, I watched the plane smash right into the runway like it was nothing at all." As casual as picking up a knife under the moonlight. Kai's mouth thinned as he paused there, muttering, "An immortals' game is really somethin' else..."

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