KIRO’S STORY / CHAPTER 31 OF 36
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by hasira · about 8 min read
The Ranger stopped in front of Kiro's house.
Kiro turned the engine off.
For a few seconds, neither of them moved.
The drive back had been easier than expected.
Mostly.
Susie only grabbed the dashboard twice.
Kiro considered that a success.
He looked at her.
“See?”
Susie slowly turned toward him.
“You nearly killed a mailbox.”
“I did not.”
“You were very close.”
“It was standing too far into the road.”
“It was beside the road.”
“Exactly.”
Susie stared at him.
Kiro smiled.
“Good driving.”
“Give me my keys.”
He dropped them into her paw.
“Ungrateful.”
Susie looked through the windshield toward his house.
“So.”
Kiro followed her eyes.
Small house.
Crooked pictures somewhere behind those walls.
Minerals on the shelves.
Couch.
Two mugs.
Everything exactly where he'd left it.
Home.
“Yeah.”
He reached for the door.
Then stopped.
Susie noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Kiro opened the door and climbed out.
Cold air immediately replaced the warmth of the truck.
He grabbed his bag from behind the seat.
Susie moved into the driver's side.
Kiro closed the passenger door.
Then just stood there.
Susie looked at him through the open window.
“You planning to live on the sidewalk?”
“No.”
“You've been standing there for like ten seconds.”
“I'm saying goodbye.”
“You haven't said anything.”
Kiro frowned.
“Goodbye.”
“Very emotional.”
“Fuck you.”
Susie smiled.
Kiro adjusted the bag over his shoulder.
The last two days suddenly felt strange.
Gas station food.
The lake.
The tower.
The tiny bed.
Susie asleep against him.
Lasagna that definitely hadn't belonged to them.
Morning light.
Her giving him the keys.
All of it had happened almost without enough space between things to think about them.
Now there was space.
A lot of it.
Kiro looked toward his front door.
Then back at Susie.
“When are...”
He stopped.
Susie waited.
Kiro immediately hated the sentence.
“When are what?”
“Nothing.”
“Kiro.”
He rubbed the back of his neck.
“When are you...”
Fuck.
He changed direction.
“You doing anything tomorrow?”
Susie's mouth moved slightly.
Kiro pointed at her.
“Don't.”
“I didn't say anything.”
“Your face did.”
“My face is normal.”
“No.”
Susie leaned slightly toward the window.
“I'm probably free.”
“Oh.”
A pause.
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
Neither moved.
Kiro narrowed his eyes.
“That is weird.”
“A little.”
“We've said goodbye before.”
“Yeah.”
“Why is it weird now?”
Susie shrugged.
“Two days in the forest?”
“Probably brain damage from the lasagna.”
“Also possible.”
Kiro smiled.
Better.
Susie started the engine.
“Message me when you're inside.”
Kiro looked at the house.
Then back at her.
“I'm six feet away.”
“I know.”
“You'll literally see me walk through the door.”
“Probably.”
“Susie.”
She raised an eyebrow.
Kiro sighed.
“Fine.”
He stepped away from the truck.
Susie lifted one paw.
Kiro did the same.
Then she drove away.
Kiro watched.
The Ranger reached the end of the street.
Turned.
Disappeared.
He stayed there another few seconds.
Then looked at his house.
“...Right.”
He went inside.
The silence arrived immediately.
Door closed.
Lock clicked.
Nothing.
Kiro stood in the hallway with the bag still hanging from his shoulder.
His house smelled like his house.
Fabric.
Old wood.
Whatever candle he'd used last.
A tiny trace of coffee from several days ago.
Nothing unusual.
Still...
Kiro looked toward the living room.
Empty couch.
Empty chair.
Empty kitchen.
His ears lowered slightly.
“Hi.”
Nothing answered.
Kiro frowned at himself.
“Great.”
He dropped the bag beside the couch.
His phone came out immediately.
No new messages.
Of course not.
Susie had left maybe three minutes ago.
Kiro stared at the screen anyway.
Then locked it.
“No.”
He put it on the table.
Walked three steps.
Came back.
Picked it up.
Still nothing.
“...Fuck off.”
He put it down again.
This time face down.
Better.
Probably.
Unpacking gave him something to do.
Dirty shirt.
Another dirty shirt.
Socks.
Half-empty bottle of water.
A crushed bag of chips.
Kiro stared at it.
“Why did I bring this home?”
He threw it away.
Something small fell from the bottom of the bag.
A leaf.
Orange.
Mostly brown around the edges now.
Kiro crouched and picked it up.
Probably from the forest.
Maybe the lake.
Maybe it had stuck to his clothes when they climbed the tower.
He turned it between two fingers.
Then walked toward one of the shelves.
Minerals.
Small stones.
A piece of quartz.
Random objects he'd decided mattered enough to keep.
Kiro placed the leaf beside them.
Stopped.
Looked at it.
“...That's stupid.”
He left it there.
Kiro carried the dirty clothes upstairs.
Dropped them beside the laundry basket.
Missed.
He stared at the shirt on the floor.
“No.”
Picked it up.
Put it inside properly.
Then he changed.
Soft sweater.
Clean jeans.
Warm socks.
Normal clothes.
His clothes.
He looked at himself in the mirror.
Tired.
Hair slightly wrong.
Fur around one ear sticking out strangely from sleeping badly.
Kiro fixed it.
Stopped.
Remembered Susie's camera.
Click.
Morning light.
“You always say that.”
Kiro stared at his reflection.
Then smiled slightly.
“Asshole.”
He walked away before the mirror could become anything else.
The kitchen was next.
Kiro opened the cupboard.
Reached inside.
One mug.
Then his paw moved automatically toward the second.
He stopped.
Two mugs sat there.
Same as always.
They had been there before Susie.
Long before.
Kiro looked at them.
Then took both out.
Placed them on the counter.
Silence.
He stared.
“...Why?”
No answer.
Obviously.
He slowly picked one back up.
Opened the cupboard.
Stopped again.
For some reason, putting it back felt worse.
Kiro frowned.
“This is fucking ridiculous.”
He left both mugs on the counter.
Only filled one.
Hot chocolate.
Too much powder.
Exactly how he liked it.
He carried it into the living room.
The other mug stayed behind.
Empty.
Kiro sat on the couch.
Immediately noticed the amount of space beside him.
Too much couch.
He shifted toward the middle.
Better.
His phone was still face down on the table.
Good.
He looked at the television.
Turned it on.
Some show started.
Kiro watched maybe thirty seconds.
Didn't understand any of it.
His eyes moved toward the phone.
“No.”
Back to television.
Someone was arguing about something.
Kiro tried listening.
His head had other plans.
She's gone.
Kiro's expression changed.
He looked toward the front door.
“She went home.”
Silence.
Gone.
“No.”
He rubbed one paw against his leg.
“Different word.”
His chest felt slightly tighter.
Not panic.
Nothing close.
Just that similar beginning of something annoying.
He looked toward the phone again.
Still face down.
What if Susie got home and decided the last two days had been too much?
What if sleeping beside him had been weird?
What if kissing him before sunrise had been because she was tired?
What if she regretted giving him the truck keys?
That one didn't even make sense.
Kiro frowned.
“Okay, that one's stupid.”
His thoughts ignored him.
What if she'd wanted to leave earlier but didn't know how?
What if tomorrow she suddenly had plans?
What if every reply became shorter?
What if...
Kiro grabbed the hot chocolate.
Took a drink.
Too hot.
“Fuck.”
He nearly spilled it.
For a second, his entire brain focused on his burned tongue.
Kiro stared at the mug.
Then laughed quietly.
“Helpful.”
He put it down.
The silence returned.
But not exactly the same.
Kiro leaned back.
Looked around.
His house.
Yeah.
But...
Susie had been here.
Actually here.
She had stood in front of his shelves and argued that fluorite looked like glass.
Sat on his couch.
Fallen asleep against him.
Snored.
Seen things he wanted hidden.
Stayed.
Left.
Came back again.
Kiro looked toward the door.
She always leaves.
His ears lowered.
Then he frowned.
“Yeah.”
The thought stopped.
Kiro sat forward slightly.
“People do that.”
Silence.
“They have houses.”
He looked around his own.
“That's generally why.”
Nothing answered.
Kiro almost smiled.
“Fucking idiot.”
He wasn't completely sure whether he meant the voice or himself.
Probably both.
His phone vibrated.
Kiro jumped so hard his knee hit the table.
“Fuck!”
Hot chocolate moved dangerously close to the edge.
He caught it.
Saved.
Mostly.
A little spilled onto the table.
Kiro grabbed the phone.
Susie.
you alive?
Kiro stared.
Then smiled.
A stupid one.
Immediate.
He typed.
stole rin's line
Three dots.
improved it
Kiro laughed quietly.
barely
Her reply came quickly
good
Then another.
home?
Kiro looked around.
Couch.
Television.
The empty mug still sitting in the kitchen.
The orange leaf beside his minerals.
His own house.
unfortunately
Susie reacted with a middle finger.
Kiro smiled.
Then another message appeared.
A photo.
Kiro opened it.
Morning light.
The watchtower window beside him.
Hair a mess.
Red plaid shirt wrinkled.
Fork in his paw.
He was looking toward Susie instead of the camera.
Clearly complaining about something.
Probably the picture itself.
Kiro stared.
His first reaction came automatically.
Delete it.
His thumb moved.
Stopped.
He looked closer.
He looked tired.
Really tired.
But not empty.
Not scared.
Not pretending.
Just tired.
And annoyed.
And maybe...
Happy.
Kiro's expression softened.
Another message.
beautiful morning creature
Kiro immediately typed.
fuck you
Susie reacted with a heart.
Kiro stared at it.
His ears warmed.
“Don't.”
Nobody had said anything.
He looked toward you.
You were there.
Of course.
Kiro narrowed his eyes.
“Not one fucking word.”
He locked the phone.
Placed it face down again.
This time...
He didn't immediately pick it back up.
Kiro finished the hot chocolate.
The television kept playing.
He still didn't understand what was happening.
That was fine.
Outside, a car passed.
Someone closed a door farther down the street.
Wind moved through the trees.
Normal sounds.
The house remained quiet.
Kiro listened to it.
His eyes moved toward the kitchen.
The second mug still sat on the counter.
Empty.
He could put it away.
He probably should.
Instead, Kiro pulled the blanket over his legs and leaned deeper into the couch.
The phone stayed silent.
For once, he let it.
Susie was home.
Kiro was home.
Two different places.
Nothing had ended.
The house stayed quiet.
Kiro stayed too.