KIRO’S STORY / CHAPTER 24 OF 36
After
by hasira · about 6 min read
The next time Kiro saw Susie, nothing terrible happened.
That was almost suspicious.
No panic attack.
No running.
No alcohol.
No gun.
No crying on the floor.
Just Susie standing outside a second-hand shop, looking at her phone.
Kiro approached from behind.
“You look lost.”
Susie didn't look up.
“I'm waiting for someone.”
“Sounds awful.”
“Yeah. He's late.”
Kiro checked his phone.
“Two minutes.”
“Unacceptable.”
“Go fuck yourself.”
Susie finally looked at him.
“Hi.”
Kiro stopped.
“...Hi.”
There it was.
That stupid awkwardness.
They had talked for hours about his ex.
Held paws.
Told each other they liked each other.
And somehow saying hi now felt more intimate than any of that.
Susie seemed to notice too.
She looked away first.
“Come on.”
Kiro followed her inside.
The shop smelled like old fabric and dust.
Susie immediately disappeared toward a rack of jackets.
Kiro followed at a safer distance.
He didn't really know why she had invited him.
Well.
He knew.
She wanted to spend time with him.
That was still something his brain occasionally refused to accept without paperwork.
Susie pulled out a brown jacket.
Held it against herself.
“What do you think?”
Kiro stared.
“No.”
“That fast?”
“Absolutely.”
“Why?”
“You look like somebody's divorced uncle.”
Susie looked at the jacket.
Then at him.
“I'm buying it.”
“Of course you are.”
She put it over her arm.
Kiro shook his head.
“Terrible.”
“You dress like a sheep.”
“It's one sweater.”
“You wear it constantly.”
“It has personality.”
“It has sheep.”
“Exactly.”
Susie smiled.
Kiro did too.
Easy.
Normal.
For a while, they just moved through the shop.
Old records.
Books.
Clothes.
A shelf full of mugs nobody needed.
Kiro picked up one shaped like a frog.
Susie looked at him.
“No.”
“I didn't say anything.”
“Your face did.”
Kiro turned the mug over.
“He's beautiful.”
“Put him back.”
“He needs a home.”
“You have enough problems.”
“That's cruel.”
“To you or the frog?”
“Both.”
Kiro put it back.
Slowly.
“Goodbye.”
Susie walked away.
“You'll recover.”
“I won't.”
They ended up at the records.
Of course.
Kiro crouched beside one of the lower boxes.
Susie stood beside him, going through another.
Their shoulders bumped once.
Neither commented.
Then again.
Still nothing.
Kiro looked at her.
Susie was focused on an album cover.
He looked away.
Normal.
A few seconds later, her paw brushed his while they both reached for the same record.
Both stopped.
Susie looked at him.
Kiro looked at her.
Neither moved their paw.
For one second.
Two.
Then Kiro slowly pulled his back.
“You can have it.”
Susie looked at the record.
“I don't even want it.”
“Then why did you grab it?”
“You were grabbing it.”
Kiro stared.
“That's not an answer.”
Susie put it back.
Kiro narrowed his eyes.
“Suspicious.”
She ignored him.
He kept looking at her.
Susie finally sighed.
“What?”
“You did that on purpose.”
“No.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“Your face is doing something.”
“What's my face doing?”
“I don't know.”
Kiro gestured vaguely.
“Something.”
Susie smiled.
“There. That.”
“What?”
“That.”
She laughed.
Kiro looked offended.
“I hate this.”
“No, you don't.”
He went quiet.
Susie's smile changed slightly.
Kiro looked down at the records.
“Yeah.”
A pause.
“I know.”
They left with the ugly brown jacket.
And, somehow, the frog mug.
Susie looked at the bag in Kiro's paw.
“I told you no.”
“And yet.”
“You bought it.”
“He deserves better.”
“Than the shop?”
“Than you.”
“Fuck you.”
Kiro smiled.
They walked without really deciding where.
Cold afternoon.
Gray sky.
The kind of weather Kiro liked.
Not raining.
Almost.
Their arms brushed sometimes.
Neither moved farther away.
Kiro noticed every single one.
He suspected Susie did too.
Eventually she asked:
“So.”
Kiro immediately looked suspicious.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“That was a dangerous 'so.'”
Susie shoved her paws into her jacket pockets.
“Remember Jamie?”
Kiro's stomach reacted before his brain did.
Small.
Sharp.
He hated that.
Susie saw something change in his face.
Not much.
Enough.
Kiro looked away.
“Yeah.”
She waited.
He breathed out.
Then:
“I'm doing the thing.”
“What thing?”
He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Hello, Susan. You mentioned another man and now my brain is fucking eating itself.”
Susie stopped walking.
Kiro took another step before realizing.
He turned.
She was staring at him.
“What?”
Then she started laughing.
Kiro's ears flattened.
“You told me to fucking say it.”
“I know.”
“This is humiliating.”
“I know.”
“You're enjoying this.”
“A little.”
“Fuck you.”
Susie caught up.
Kiro looked ahead.
His face was warm.
But something strange happened.
The feeling didn't grow.
He'd said it.
Out loud.
That was it.
No checking.
No running.
No claws in his palms.
Just embarrassment.
Susie bumped his shoulder lightly.
“For the record, I'm not going anywhere with Jamie.”
Kiro glanced at her.
“Okay.”
“He told me about a concert.”
Kiro's ears lifted slightly.
“The one you were talking about at the café?”
“Yeah.”
Small venue.
Local band.
Cheap tickets.
Something Jamie had apparently mentioned before everything went wrong.
Susie looked at him.
“I was thinking about going.”
Kiro nodded.
“Sounds fun.”
A pause.
Susie kept walking.
Kiro kept walking.
Then she added:
“With you.”
His steps slowed.
“What?”
Susie looked over.
“I want you to come with me.”
Kiro stared.
“Why?”
Her expression changed.
“Why do you always ask that?”
“I don't.”
“You do.”
“No I...”
He stopped.
He did.
Susie looked forward again.
“Because I want you there.”
Simple.
No explanation.
Kiro went quiet.
He looked down at the bag with the frog mug.
Then at her.
“I've never been to one.”
Susie turned her head.
“A concert?”
“Yeah.”
“Never?”
Kiro sighed.
“Please don't do the never-never thing.”
“I wasn't.”
“You were about.”
“Maybe.”
Kiro smiled faintly.
“I always wanted to.”
The smile disappeared a little.
“Just never really had anyone to go with.”
Susie watched him.
Kiro immediately regretted how sad that sounded.
“That sounded fucking pathetic.”
“No.”
“It did.”
“It didn't.”
“It absolutely did.”
Susie rolled her eyes.
Then:
“Well.”
Kiro looked at her.
“You do now.”
He stopped walking.
Not deliberately.
His body just forgot the next step.
Susie took two more before noticing.
She turned.
Kiro was staring at her.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“That's clearly something.”
He looked away.
“Shut up.”
Susie smiled.
“So that's a yes?”
Kiro rubbed one paw against the shopping bag.
Crowd.
Noise.
New place.
People he didn't know.
His chest tightened slightly just thinking about it.
Then he looked at Susie.
“Yeah.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah?”
“Before I change my mind.”
“Good.”
Kiro started walking again.
Susie joined him.
After a few steps, their paws brushed.
Once.
Then again.
Kiro looked down.
Susie did too.
Neither said anything.
A few more steps.
Their paws touched again.
This time Susie's little finger caught around his.
Barely.
Kiro froze for half a second.
Susie kept walking.
So he did too.
One finger became two.
Then their paws settled together properly.
No conversation.
No question.
Kiro looked straight ahead.
His ears were burning.
Susie squeezed his paw once.
Kiro squeezed back.
They kept walking.
Eventually Kiro looked toward her.
“So, how are we getting there?”
Susie smiled.
“I'll pick you up.”
“You drive?”
She looked offended.
“Yes.”
Kiro stared at her.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“What?”
“I just suddenly became concerned about the concert.”
“Fuck you.”
Kiro smiled.
Susie didn't let go of his paw.
Neither did he.