KIRO’S STORY / CHAPTER 17 OF 36
Gift
by hasira · about 12 min read
Warm air immediately replaced the cold.
So did noise.
Not a lot.
Enough.
Someone was talking in the kitchen.
A television played somewhere farther inside.
There were decorations along the hallway. Cheap orange lights. Paper bats. A plastic spider hanging from the ceiling badly enough that one leg kept falling down.
Kiro looked around.
Susie noticed.
“It's not a party.”
Rin walked ahead of them.
“There are people.”
“Four.”
“That's a party.”
“Four people isn't a party.”
Kiro looked at her.
“Depends who they are.”
“My dad. My aunt. Her boyfriend. And now you two.”
Rin stopped.
“Six.”
Susie stared at him.
“Thank you, calculator.”
“You're welcome.”
Kiro stayed near the door slightly too long.
Susie looked at him.
“You can take your jacket off.”
“Oh.”
Right.
Kiro put the gift carefully on a small cabinet.
Then removed his jacket.
He almost hung it over a chair.
Stopped.
Looked around.
Susie pointed toward the hooks beside the door.
“There.”
“I knew that.”
“Sure.”
Kiro hung it up.
Then immediately looked back at the present.
Still there.
Obviously.
Rin had already disappeared farther into the house.
Kiro frowned.
“Did he just leave us?”
“Probably looking for food.”
“Of course.”
From the kitchen:
“I HEARD THAT.”
Kiro looked toward the doorway.
Susie smiled.
“Come on.”
She started walking.
Kiro grabbed the album again and followed.
He had been inside this house before.
Yesterday.
It shouldn't have felt different.
It did.
Yesterday had been quiet.
Just Susie going upstairs to get her cameras.
A few minutes.
Nothing expected from him.
Now there were coats near the entrance.
Glasses on the table.
Food in the kitchen.
People.
Family.
Kiro's body noticed all of it.
His tail stayed closer to his legs.
Susie slowed slightly when she noticed he wasn't beside her anymore.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.”
She looked at the present against his chest.
“You're doing that again.”
“What?”
“Holding it like somebody's going to steal it.”
Kiro looked down.
His claws were pressing lightly into the paper.
He relaxed them.
“I'm fine.”
“Okay.”
That was all.
No argument.
She continued walking.
Kiro appreciated that.
The living room was warm.
A few candles burned inside small pumpkin holders.
Someone had put a paper skeleton on the wall.
Its head was upside down.
Kiro stared at it.
Susie followed his eyes.
“My dad.”
“Artistic.”
“He refused help.”
“I respect that.”
Then a man stepped out of the kitchen carrying a bowl.
Kiro knew immediately.
Susie's father.
He had seen him in photographs.
Older badger.
Similar face.
Same muted eyes, though his were more gray than green.
He looked at Susie first.
Then Rin.
Then Kiro.
Kiro's entire body straightened automatically.
Susie noticed.
“Kiro, this is my dad.”
Her father put the bowl down.
“So you're Kiro.”
Kiro's stomach dropped.
What did she tell him?
He looked at Susie.
She looked completely innocent.
That was suspicious.
Kiro turned back.
“Hi.”
Her father held out a paw.
Kiro took it.
“Martin.”
“Kiro.”
“I know.”
Kiro glanced at Susie again.
She smiled.
His ears lowered.
Martin noticed the wrapped rectangle in Kiro's other arm.
“You brought something.”
Kiro looked down.
“Yeah.”
Then immediately.
“It's nothing huge.”
Susie sighed.
“Kiro.”
“What?”
“You haven't even given it to me yet.”
“I know.”
Martin looked between them.
Then toward Susie.
“This the nervous one?”
Kiro froze.
Susie's face changed.
“Dad.”
Martin stopped.
Kiro stared.
Rin appeared from the kitchen holding something in his mouth.
He looked at Kiro.
Then Martin.
Then slowly removed the food.
“Oh no.”
Martin frowned.
“What?”
Susie covered her face.
“I said he gets nervous sometimes.”
Martin looked back at Kiro.
Kiro was still standing completely still.
“Oh.”
A pause.
“Sorry.”
Kiro blinked.
Then laughed once.
Small.
“It's fine.”
Susie looked at him.
Kiro pointed at her.
“You talk about me?”
She lowered her paws.
“Sometimes.”
“Why?”
“Because people ask what I've been doing.”
Rin leaned against the doorway.
“Careful, Kiro. This is how social interaction works.”
“Nobody asked you.”
Rin took another bite.
Martin watched them.
Then smiled slightly.
“Food's in the kitchen.”
Rin immediately disappeared again.
Kiro started after him.
“Unbelievable.”
Martin followed.
Susie stayed.
Kiro looked at her.
“You called me nervous?”
“Would you prefer emotionally stable?”
Kiro stared.
Susie's mouth twitched.
He almost smiled.
“Fuck you.”
“Come on.”
The gathering really was small.
Susie's aunt talked a lot.
Her boyfriend talked even more.
Neither seemed especially interested in interrogating Kiro, which helped.
They said hello.
Asked how they knew Susie.
Kiro answered:
“Rin.”
Then Susie added:
“Technically.”
Kiro looked at her.
“What does technically mean?”
“You met me because of Rin.”
“That's what I said.”
“Yeah.”
Her aunt smiled in a way Kiro didn't like.
Not cruel.
Just knowing.
Kiro immediately looked away.
No.
Nobody said anything.
Good.
He sat near the end of the couch.
Susie sat on the floor near the coffee table.
Rin had somehow gotten the better chair despite not living there.
Kiro noticed.
“Why are you sitting there?”
Rin looked around.
“Because I got here first.”
“You came in after me.”
“Moved faster.”
“Asshole.”
Susie's aunt laughed.
Kiro stopped.
Looked at her.
She smiled.
“Sorry. You two sound married.”
Kiro nearly inhaled his drink.
Rin looked disgusted.
“No.”
Kiro coughed.
“Absolutely fucking not.”
Susie laughed so hard she had to put her glass down.
Rin pointed toward Kiro.
“I'd rather die.”
Kiro wiped his mouth.
“Mutual.”
Martin walked through carrying plates.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
Rin looked at Kiro.
“We're getting divorced.”
“Fuck you.”
That made Susie laugh again.
Kiro looked at her.
Her paper crown had shifted even farther to one side.
He smiled before he could stop himself.
She caught it.
“What?”
“Your crown.”
Susie touched it.
“What about it?”
“It's barely on your head.”
“Good.”
“It looks stupid.”
“It's my birthday.”
“Doesn't make it less stupid.”
Susie adjusted even worse on purpose.
Kiro stared.
“Now you're doing that to annoy me.”
“Yes.”
“Great.”
He looked away.
Still smiling.
Food made everything easier.
It gave Kiro something to do with his paws.
Something to look at when conversation moved somewhere he didn't understand.
Susie's aunt told a story about Susie getting drunk at nineteen and throwing up into somebody's decorative plant.
Susie covered her face.
“Can we not?”
Kiro looked at her.
“No, continue.”
“Kiro.”
Her aunt was delighted.
“It wasn't even a real plant.”
Susie groaned.
“That somehow makes it worse.”
Rin leaned forward.
“Did you clean it?”
“I thought I did.”
Martin looked at her.
“You put it in the bathtub.”
Kiro stared.
Susie slowly lowered her paws.
“I was drunk.”
Kiro started laughing.
Susie pointed at him.
“You don't get to judge me.”
“I absolutely do.”
“You climbed onto a roof during a thunderstorm.”
Kiro stopped laughing.
Rin looked between them.
“What?”
Kiro slowly turned toward Susie.
“You didn't need to share that.”
She smiled.
Martin looked at Kiro.
“You did that?”
“It wasn't...”
Kiro paused.
He remembered the lightning.
The wet roof.
“...one of my best decisions.”
Rin stared at him.
“When?”
“Different story.”
“Kiro.”
“Not now.”
Susie's aunt laughed.
Kiro looked around the room.
Nobody looked angry.
Nobody was shouting.
Nobody was drunk enough to change the air.
Nobody seemed to be waiting for someone else to become dangerous.
Just stupid stories.
Food.
Cheap decorations.
Rin stealing snacks from Susie's plate when she wasn't looking.
Martin noticing and moving the entire bowl away from him.
It should have felt normal.
Instead it felt unfamiliar.
That was worse in a different way.
Kiro looked down at his paws.
For a second, another table tried to appear.
Bottle.
Smoke.
Someone speaking too loudly.
The feeling came first.
That old warning inside his chest.
Something is about to happen.
Kiro pressed his thumb against his palm.
The room stayed where it was.
Susie pushed something onto his plate.
Kiro blinked.
“What?”
“You haven't eaten that.”
He looked down.
A small piece of cake.
“I didn't ask for cake.”
“It's my birthday.”
“That's not how that works.”
“It is in this house.”
Kiro looked at her.
The old table disappeared completely.
“Fine.”
He took a bite.
Susie watched him.
“Well?”
Kiro chewed.
Swallowed.
“Terrible.”
Martin called from the kitchen:
“I MADE THAT.”
Kiro's ears shot up.
Susie burst out laughing.
Kiro stared toward the kitchen.
“I WAS JOKING.”
Martin appeared in the doorway.
“Too late.”
Kiro looked genuinely horrified.
Susie could barely breathe.
Rin leaned toward him.
“Great first impression.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
Martin smiled.
Kiro noticed.
“Oh.”
He'd been joking too.
Kiro slowly relaxed.
“...Okay.”
Susie wiped at her eye.
“Your face.”
“I hate all of you.”
“Happy birthday to me.”
The gifts came later.
That was the part Kiro had been trying not to think about.
Martin went first.
The little black bag Kiro had seen in Susie's room.
Orange tissue paper.
Plastic bat.
Susie looked at her father.
“You didn't even move it.”
“You weren't supposed to look.”
“It was on my desk.”
“I hid it.”
“You put it directly in the middle of my desk.”
Martin thought about that.
“Badly, apparently.”
Inside was an old camera strap.
Leather.
Worn but restored.
Susie's expression changed immediately.
“Oh.”
Kiro watched her run her thumb along the edge.
Martin shrugged.
“Thought yours looked like it was about to snap.”
“It is.”
“So.”
Susie looked up.
“Thanks.”
Simple.
But softer.
Kiro looked away.
It felt private somehow.
Her aunt gave her a sweater and a gift card.
The boyfriend gave her a bottle of something Kiro didn't recognize.
Rin went next.
He placed the open gift bag directly into Susie's lap.
She looked inside.
Then at him.
“Did you eat some of this?”
Rin didn't hesitate.
“No.”
Kiro looked at him.
Susie looked at Kiro.
Kiro tried to stay neutral.
He failed immediately.
Susie's eyes narrowed.
“You both did.”
Kiro pointed at Rin.
“He started it.”
“You accepted.”
“You offered it!”
Rin shrugged.
“Peer pressure.”
Susie looked inside.
Old horror DVD.
Snacks.
The badly wrapped dinosaur thing.
She pulled it out.
“What the fuck?”
Rin smiled.
“Open it.”
She tore the paper.
Inside was a small metal keychain.
A camera.
Cheap.
A little scratched.
But detailed enough that the lens actually moved.
Susie turned it between her fingers.
Her expression softened.
“Okay.”
Rin raised an eyebrow.
“Okay good or okay shit?”
“Okay good.”
“Nice.”
She attached it to the zipper of her camera bag.
Immediately.
Rin tried not to look pleased.
Kiro noticed anyway.
Then everyone looked at him.
Not literally everyone at first.
But it felt like it.
Kiro's stomach tightened.
His present was beside his leg.
Susie looked at it.
Then at him.
“You don't have to look terrified.”
“I'm not.”
Rin snored.
Kiro glared.
Then picked up the album.
Held it out.
“Here.”
Susie took it.
The wrapping paper made a quiet sound beneath her paws.
She looked at the bats.
Then at him.
“You picked this?”
Kiro looked offended.
“Rin did.”
“Hey.”
“It looks fucking stupid.”
“You bought it.”
“Because you said it was fine.”
“It is fine.”
Susie smiled.
“I like bats.”
Rin pointed at Kiro.
“See?”
“Nobody asked.”
Susie started opening it.
Carefully.
Too carefully.
Kiro watched every movement.
Don't rip the paper.
Then immediately.
Why the fuck do you care about the paper?
She pulled one piece free.
Then another.
The dark album appeared beneath it.
Susie stopped.
Kiro's heartbeat changed.
Just slightly.
She looked at the cover.
Then opened it.
First page.
Empty.
Second.
Empty.
She turned another.
Then looked at Kiro.
He couldn't read her face.
That was horrible.
“An album.”
Obviously.
Susie's mouth moved slightly.
“I can see that.”
“I know.”
Kiro rubbed his thumb against his sleeve.
“You've got all those photos.”
She looked back down.
“And boxes.”
Another page.
“And the wall is...”
He paused.
“Kind of losing.”
Susie laughed quietly.
“Fair.”
“So...”
Kiro swallowed.
“You can put things in this.”
Great explanation.
He wanted to disappear.
“That's generally what albums are for.”
Kiro didn't look at him.
“Please die.”
Susie kept turning the empty pages.
Slowly.
Kiro watched.
Every page brought her closer to the middle.
His stomach tightened.
Fuck.
He hadn't expected her to flip through the whole thing now.
Of course she would.
It was empty.
What else was she supposed to do?
Susie turned another page.
Then another.
Kiro knew roughly where the photograph was.
Not exactly.
That somehow made it worse.
He could feel his heartbeat in his throat now.
Rin noticed.
His eyes moved from Kiro to the album.
Then back.
Suspicious.
Kiro immediately gave him a look.
Rin's eyebrow lifted.
Don't.
Rin's mouth slowly started smiling.
Kiro hated him.
Susie turned another page.
Nothing.
Then she stopped.
Kiro stopped breathing.
A white edge was visible between the black pages.
Susie frowned slightly.
Her fingers caught it.
She pulled the Polaroid free.
Silence.
Kiro stared at the floor.
Fuck.
Susie looked at the picture.
Him beside the railway tracks.
Not posing.
One ear turned toward her.
Caught somewhere between annoyed and amused.
The photo she had taken.
She looked at Kiro.
He still wasn't looking at her.
Rin leaned forward slightly.
“Oh.”
Kiro wanted to kill him.
Susie looked back at the photo.
“You put it here?”
Kiro finally looked up.
“It's your photo.”
“I know.”
“You took it.”
“I remember.”
“So...”
He gestured vaguely.
“It made sense.”
Susie watched him.
Kiro's ears lowered.
“It doesn't have to stay here.”
Her expression changed.
“What?”
“If it's weird.”
“Kiro.”
“It's your album. You can take it out.”
“Kiro.”
“What?”
Susie held the Polaroid between two fingers.
“I like it.”
He stopped.
“Oh.”
She looked at it again.
Then at one of the empty pages near the middle.
“Do you have...”
She paused.
“Anything to stick these in with?”
Kiro blinked.
“At home.”
“Of course you do.”
“I work with records. We have archival shit.”
Susie smiled.
“You're such a fucking nerd.”
“Fuck you.”
She slid the Polaroid carefully back where she'd found it.
Same place.
Then closed the album.
Kiro noticed.
“You don't want to move it?”
Susie looked at him.
“No.”
“Why?”
She shrugged.
“You put it there.”
Something moved strangely inside his chest.
Warm.
Immediate.
Dangerous.
Don't.
Kiro ignored it.
Susie rested the album against her legs.
“Thank you.”
He looked at her.
Not at the gift.
Her.
“Yeah.”
His voice became quieter.
“Happy birthday.”
Susie smiled.
“Thanks old man.”
Kiro's expression immediately died.
“Three fucking months.”
Rin laughed.
The room moved on.
Someone asked about coffee.
Martin started collecting plates.
Susie's aunt wanted another piece of cake.
Rin tried to steal more candy and got his paw slapped away.
Normal noise returned.
Kiro sat back.
For the first time all day, there was nothing left to prepare for.
Nothing left to rehearse.
Nothing left to give.
Susie placed the album beside her.
Carefully.
The Polaroid stayed inside.
Somewhere in the middle.
Exactly where Kiro had left it.