Compromise
1968 Words
"What do you mean?" Kazuna asks in a final attempt to avoid the subject.
"You know what I mean," Kagura answers.
Kazuna stands frozen for a few more seconds, using all his brainpower trying to come up with a way out of this. But when he came up blank, he decided that he had to come clean.
"Okay, I have been avoiding you somewhat." He answers in defeat.
"Why? Is it because Ria's here?" She asks.
"No, it's not that, it's just-" He starts but ends up trailing off.
"Just, what?" She pushes.
"A couple of days ago, when I looked out my window, I saw you in your room. I didn't want to seem like I was peeking, so I was going to close my curtains, but then I saw you looking at a picture of your father and crying." He answers.
A painful silence passes between them before Kagura speaks up.
"You saw that?" She asks.
Kazuna nods before continuing.
"When I saw you were crying, I thought, 'How could I act like she would take everything we told her without crying? How could she worry about me when she was hiding so much pain?' I wasn't sure how to approach you about it, so I thought that giving you space was the best thing that I could do as someone that is inept at dealing with emotions." Kazuna adds.
A sad look shows on Kagura's face. This whole time she thought Kazuna was trying to avoid her because he didn't want anything to do with her, but in all actuality, he was doing it because he cared about her.
"It seems we both went about this the wrong way," Kagura notes.
"It would seem so," Kazuna agrees.
Kagura slaps both of her cheeks to snap herself out of her daze.
"Alright, now that we got that out of the way, I have an idea," She states.
"What's that?" Kazuna asks.
"Since I don't seem to understand you fully and you don't seem to understand me fully, why don't we go out together this Saturday?" She suggests.
"Like a date?" Kazuna asks.
Kagura's face goes bright red as she realizes that that's exactly what she asked him to.
"A d-d-d-d-date? N-n-n-no -n-not quite l-like that, b-but m-more like an o-outing of f-f-friends." She stutters.
Kazuna laughs.
"Wha-what's so funny?" She asks as her face somehow grows even redder.
"Nothing, it's just that your mom was right; you are socially awkward." He states.
"That statement losses a lot of its meaning when it's coming from someone who is even more socially awkward than me," She replies.
"Maybe so. So Saturday, huh, what time?" He asks.
Kagura clears her throat and regathers herself.
"How about somewhere around 5 pm. We can meet at the train station." She answers.
"At the train station, got it," Kazuna says mostly to himself.
"And find a way to keep Ria at home," Kagura adds.
"That will be a little hard, but I'll think of something," He answers.
The pair walk home together, talking about where they'll go and what they'll do on Saturday. They reach their houses and could already feel that things were less tense between them.
"So, see you Saturday?" Kagura says.
"Yeah, see you Saturday," Kazuna responds as Kagura enters her house.
Kazuna enters his house and takes a deep breath. It felt like a huge weight that was on his shoulders had been lifted.
"Ria? Are you here?" Kazuna calls out.
He heads into the kitchen to prepare some food but sees Ria already there.
"Are, are you cooking?" Kazuna asks in concern.
"Yes, I'll have you know that I have been practicing and that I am quite the cook now. So why don't you sit down and wait for me to finish," She answers.
Kazuna, albeit reluctantly, sits at the table and patiently waits for Ria to finish cooking. After another twenty minutes or so, Ria places a plate of steak, mashed potatoes, and some broccoli.
Kazuna is surprised by how good the food looks.
"Maybe she did get better," He says to himself.
He tries the mashed potatoes, and a grave look passes over his face.
"It tastes terrible," He notes to himself.
He looks over at Ria and the proud smile that she had on her face. He ignores the taste and swallows the food.
"So, how is it?" She asks, with a sparkle in her eyes.
"You have improved," Kazuna answers as he tries some broccoli.
"How did she manage to mess up broccoli?" He asks himself.
He notices that she hasn't eaten anything.
"Aren't you going to join me?" He asks.
"You only had enough for one meal," She answers.
"But aren't you hungry?" He asks.
She shakes her head.
"Seeing you enjoy what I cooked is more than enough for me," She answers.
Just then, her stomach grumbles as if in protest to what she said.
"How about I make you something to eat to thank you for cooking for me," Kazuna says as he puts down his silverware.
"But that defeats the purpose of me cooking for you," She says in protest.
"No arguments," Kazuna replies as he rummages through his cabinets.
"Hm, I really need to go to the store soon, but I can still make something with what I have," He says as he lays out an assortment of ingredients.
"What are you going to make?" Ria asks, accepting this outcome.
"I have enough to make some curry with rice," He answers.
"Oh, I've been wanting to try that. It's quite popular in Japan," She notes.
After about 45 mins, Kazuna lays out a beautiful plate of curry for Ria.
"Your food always looks amazing," Ria points out as she takes a bite.
"Mhm, and it's as good as always," She exclaims with a sparkle in her eyes.
"I'm glad you're enjoying it," Kazuna says.
He looks over at the meal that Ria made for him.
"I'm going to go to the store and buy some more food so that we have something for tomorrow," Kazuna states.
"But what about your food," She asks.
"I'll finish it when I get back," Kazuna deflects.
"Well, we do need more food. I'll wrap it up for you, okay," She says.
"Okay," Kazuna says in response as he leaves for the supermarket.
"I guess I'll try my handiwork," Ria says as she was wrapping Kazuna's leftovers.
She cuts off a piece of steak and takes a bite. She chews for a second before nearly throwing up.
"This is horrible," She says to herself as she spits the food out into the garbage.
She throws away the remaining food and smiles to herself.
"Kazuna is still the same person," She says to herself.
Kazuna leaves the grocery store with two handfuls of groceries.
"This should be enough for another couple of weeks," He notes as he makes his way home.
As he crosses the street, he notices someone watching him. He continues normally not to show that he noticed his stalker, but he was scanning his surroundings, searching for the person watching him. He feels the gaze leave, but he stays on guard. He crosses the street and nearly runs into someone.
"Sor-" He starts to say but stops once he notices that the person he almost ran into was Yuu.
"So you were the source of the gaze I felt," Kazuna says, glaring at Yuu.
"I've been looking for you. Why don't we have a little talk at my office," Yuu says.
Not wanting to make a scene, Kazuna decides to follow Yuu. After a few minutes, Kazuna was in Yuu's office, still holding his groceries.
"Why don't you make yourself comfortable and take a seat," Yuu says.
Kazuna reluctantly sits down, setting his things next to him. The two sit there, analyzing one another for a few minutes before Kazuna speaks.
"Are you going to say something or just stare at me?" Kazuna asks.
"Sorry, just trying to see what people see in you. I don't get it, how can people still have the need to save you after hearing the things that you've done?" Yuu states.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Kazuna replies.
"Yeah, didn't think you would have a clue. Anyway, on to a more pressing topic, what can you tell me about Zer?" Yuu asks as he leans forward in his chair.
"Why should I share anything with you?" Kazuna asks.
"Simple, really, either you tell me what you know, or you can kiss your high school life goodbye," Yuu warns.
Kauzna glares at him, sizing up whether he's serious or not. After a few brief seconds of silence, he decides not to risk it and gives in.
"Fine. Although I was barely conscious during my time at Zer's base, I could at least tell that he was using my DNA for some sort of research." Kazuna states.
"Do you know what he was researching?" Yuu asks.
Kazuna shakes his head.
"All I know is that Zer said he had all the data he needed, so whatever he was researching will be a problem soon enough," Kazuna predicts.
Yuu stares at his desk, deep in thought. He then lifts his gaze towards Kazuna, still thinking. He stands up and walks towards the glass wall, overlooking the city. He turns towards Kazuna as if he had come to a decision.
"Although it pains me to say this, but it seems that you will be helpful in my quest to capture Zer," Yuu states.
"And what does that mean?" Kazuna asks.
"It means that I'll allow you to continue living as you are. At some point, Zer will come for you, so you are the only step on him that I have," Yuu explains.
"So, you want to use me as bait?" Kazuna surmises.
"Precisely," Yuu says.
"So you've defaulted into relying on me," Kazuna says.
"I'll do what it takes to capture Zer," Yuu states.
"Even put your own daughter in danger?" Kazuna asks.
"But you won't let any harm come to her or the rest of them, will you? Plus, with your identity being out there, there will be no need for you to handicap yourself and hide your other swords," Yuu says.
"But that's not why I hid my swords," Kazuna states.
"What do you mean?" Yuu asks.
"Just because my identity has been unveiled doesn't mean that I am going to use my other two swords," Kazuna states.
"Huh?!" Yuu exclaims.
"I have my reasons," Kazuna says.
"Well, resolve those reasons, because if something happens to any of those kids or my daughter, I'll come for you," Yuu threatens.
The two glared at each other, almost as if they were sizing the other up before Yuu gets a call. He answers the phone, and it appears that whatever he was told clearly upset him. He angrily hung up the phone.
"You can let yourself out," Yuu growls.
"Why are you so obsessed with Zer?" Kazuna asks.
"That's none of your business." He snaps as he disappears.
Kazuna grabs his groceries and heads home.
He enters his house and calls for Ria, who instantly answers.
"Help me put these up," He says.
"Everything alright?" She asks as she grabs some bags.
"Yeah, why?" Kazuna asks.
"It's just; you seem aggravated," Ria says.
"I'm fine," Kazuna says in response.
"Kachi, I know you better than anyone," She says.
Kazuna looks at her for a brief moment before he lets out a sigh.
"Sorry, it's just something Yuu said to me, don't worry about it," Kazuna says in an attempt to ease her worrying.
"If you say so," Ria says, although she was still worried.
"Resolve those reasons," Kazuna thinks to himself as he puts up groceries.
- Writer
