KIRO’S STORY / CHAPTER 25 OF 36
Passenger
by hasira · about 10 min read
Kiro heard the truck before Susie knocked.
Not loud.
Just old enough to sound slightly unhappy about being alive.
He looked through the front window.
Dark green pickup.
Susie behind the wheel.
Kiro stared.
His phone vibrated.
outside
Another message appeared before he could answer.
and yes I can see you
Kiro stepped away from the window immediately
creepy
get in the truck
He looked down at himself once.
Red plaid shirt.
Jeans.
No sheep sweater this time.
He'd stood in front of the closet for far too long before deciding on it.
Not because this was a date.
Probably.
Maybe.
He wasn't thinking about that.
Absolutely not.
Kiro grabbed his jacket and left.
Kiro stopped halfway down the driveway.
The truck wasn't ancient.
That almost disappointed him.
Dark green Ford Ranger.
A few scratches along the bed.
Small dent near the rear wheel.
Nothing dramatic.
Just used.
Susie rolled down the passenger window.
“You coming?”
Kiro walked closer.
“This is yours?”
“No.”
She rested one arm against the window.
“I saw it outside someone's house and decided it belonged to me.”
“That explains a lot.”
“It's a 2012.”
Kiro opened the passenger door.
“It looks older.”
“You were born before it.”
He stopped.
Susie smiled.
Kiro climbed inside.
“You're becoming very comfortable insulting me.”
“I've always been comfortable insulting you.”
“True.”
He closed the door.
The inside smelled faintly like old fabric, coffee, and Susie.
Camera bag behind his seat.
A green plaid jacket thrown behind hers.
A few CDs stuffed beside the center console.
Receipts.
Two empty water bottles.
Something small hanging from the mirror.
Kiro leaned forward.
It was a tiny white ghost.
Wearing a cowboy hat.
He stared.
Susie noticed.
“No.”
“What the fuck is that?”
“No.”
“It has a hat.”
“I can see that.”
“Why does your ghost have a cowboy hat?”
Susie started the truck.
“Because he wanted one.”
Kiro slowly turned toward her.
“He wanted one?”
“Yes.”
“You named him.”
“No.”
“You absolutely fucking named him.”
Susie pulled away from the curb.
“Seatbelt.”
“What's his name?”
“Kiro.”
“That's my name.”
“Exactly. Put your seatbelt on.”
Kiro clicked it into place.
“This conversation isn't over.”
“It is.”
The little ghost swung from side to side as they drove.
Kiro stared at it.
“Steve.”
Susie glanced over.
“What?”
“He looks like a Steve.”
“He doesn't.”
“So he does have a name.”
Susie's eyes narrowed.
Kiro smiled.
“Got you.”
“Fuck off.”
For the first few minutes, Kiro kept looking around.
Not obviously.
Probably obviously.
Susie noticed anyway.
“You inspecting my truck?”
“I'm judging it.”
“And?”
Kiro touched the old radio.
“It has a CD player.”
“Yes.”
“That's a point in its favor.”
“I knew you'd understand.”
Kiro opened the small compartment beside the seat.
Susie immediately looked over.
“Don't.”
Too late.
CDs
A lot of them.
Kiro pulled one out.
Susie reached toward him at the next red light.
“Give me that.”
He moved away.
“Why?”
“Because.”
“You own it.”
“That doesn't mean you're allowed to look.”
“Oh.”
Kiro looked at the cover again.
“So it's embarrassing.”
“It's not embarrassing.”
“It absolutely is now.”
“Kiro.”
He held it against his chest.
“It's mine.”
“It's literally mine.”
“You gave up ownership through shame.”
The light changed.
Someone behind them honked.
Susie looked forward.
“You're lucky I'm driving.”
“I know.”
He put the CD back.
Wrong place.
Susie noticed instantly.
“Wrong slot.”
Kiro stared at her.
“How the fuck did you see that?”
“I know where they go.”
“That's disturbing.”
“Fix it.”
Kiro fixed it.
Then found another.
“This one's good.”
“I know.”
“Finally.”
“Get out.”
“We're doing forty.”
“I'll slow down.”
Kiro smiled and put the CD into the player.
Music filled the truck.
Not loud.
Just enough.
Outside, the evening was getting darker.
Clouds low.
Streetlights turning on.
Kiro watched buildings pass.
Susie tapped her fingers against the steering wheel.
For a while, neither spoke.
Kiro liked that.
Then he remembered where there were going.
His legs started bouncing.
He didn't notice.
Susie did.
“You're doing it.”
Kiro looked at her.
“What?”
She glanced toward his knee.
He stopped immediately.
“Oh.”
“You nervous?”
“No.”
Susie waited.
Kiro sighed.
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
That was all.
Kiro looked out the window again.
A few seconds passed.
“How many people?”
“At the venue?”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe a hundred and fifty.”
Kiro slowly turned toward her.
“That's small?”
“For a concert.”
“That's a fucking village.”
Susie laughed.
“You'll be fine.”
Kiro looked at her.
She corrected herself immediately.
“Probably.”
“Much better.”
“If it sucks, we go outside.”
“You don't have to leave because of me.”
“I'm not talking about leaving.”
She changed lanes.
“We step out.”
“You breathe.”
“We go back in if you want.”
“And if I don't?”
“Then we don't.”
Kiro looked at her.
“That's it?”
“That's it.”
He stared forward again.
The nervousness stayed.
But it stopped growing.
At another red light, Susie leaned across him.
Kiro froze.
Completely.
Her shoulder brushed against the front of his plaid shirt.
Her face was suddenly very close.
He smelled her shampoo.
Something warm.
Something slightly sweet.
Kiro forgot how breathing worked.
Susie opened the glove box.
Pulled out gum.
Closed it.
Sat back.
Kiro stared straight ahead.
Susie held the pack toward him.
“Want one?”
He slowly looked at her.
“You could warn me.”
“About gum?”
“About...”
He gestured vaguely between them.
Susie raised an eyebrow.
“About what?”
Kiro stared.
She knew.
She absolutely fucking knew.
“Nothing.”
“Okay.”
Her mouth twitched.
Kiro took a piece.
The light changed.
Susie started driving again.
His heart remained stupid for another full minute.
“You really never went to one?”
Susie asked eventually.
Kiro looked over.
“A concert?”
“Yeah.”
“No.”
“Not even some tiny local thing?”
“No.”
“Festival?”
“No.”
“School band?”
Kiro stared.
“That does not fucking count.”
“It has live music.”
“By that logic I've been to concerts in grocery stores.”
Susie laughed.
Kiro looked back through the windshield.
“I used to watch recordings sometimes.”
“Of concerts?”
“Yeah.”
He shrugged.
“They always looked...”
Kiro searched for the word.
“Loud.”
Susie glanced at him.
“That's kind of the point.”
“No, I mean...”
He moved one paw vaguely.
“Different loud.”
“Like everyone is hearing the same thing, but nobody gives a shit what anyone else is doing.”
Susie listened.
Kiro looked slightly embarrassed now.
“I thought that looked nice.”
A pause.
“Being somewhere you don't have to think for a while.”
Susie's expression softened.
“Maybe you'll like it, then.”
Kiro glanced toward her.
“Or I'll have a panic attack in the first ten minutes.”
“Also possible.”
“Thanks.”
“I'm keeping expectations realistic.”
Kiro smiled.
“Good.”
Traffic got heavier closer to downtown.
More people outside.
More lights.
Kiro recognized some band shirts even though he didn't know the bands.
His knee started bouncing again.
This time Susie didn't comment.
At the next stop, something touched it.
Her paw.
Kiro looked down.
Then at her.
Susie was still watching the road.
“You're vibrating.”
“Oh.”
Her paw stayed there.
Lightly.
Kiro swallowed.
“Sorry.”
“I didn't tell you to stop.”
His brain went completely blank.
Susie glanced at him.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“You're very still.”
“I'm trying not to embarrass myself.”
“How's that going?”
“Poorly.”
She smiled.
Her paw remained on his knee until traffic started moving again.
Then she returned it to the wheel.
Five seconds.
Maybe six.
Kiro looked out the passenger window.
His knee still felt warm.
Normal.
He swallowed.
Be fucking normal.
Susie turned the music up slightly.
Kiro glanced toward her.
She was smiling to herself.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You're smiling.”
“So are you.”
Kiro immediately stopped.
Susie laughed.
“Idiot.”
A few minutes later, Susie reached toward the center console.
Her paw landed there.
Close to Kiro's.
Not touching.
Just close.
Kiro noticed.
Of course he noticed.
He looked at her paw.
Then at the road.
Then back at it.
Don't.
He lasted maybe thirty seconds.
His little finger moved.
Touched hers.
Susie didn't react.
At least not visibly.
Kiro almost moved away.
Then her finger hooked around his.
Barely.
His stomach flipped.
Neither looked at the other.
Not properly.
Just two fingers caught together beside the gear shifter.
Still enough.
Kiro stared out the window.
The city lights blurred slightly against the glass.
He smiled.
Small.
Susie noticed.
Didn't say anything.
They stayed like that until she needed to change gears.
Their paws separated.
Kiro immediately missed it.
That annoyed him.
Susie changed gear.
Then, a moment later, put her paw back.
This time palm up.
Kiro looked down.
Then at her.
She kept watching the road.
He slowly placed his paw into hers.
Susie's fingers closed around it.
Kiro breathed out.
“Is it safe?”
“What?”
“Driving like this.”
She glanced at him.
“I have another paw.”
“Very reassuring.”
“If we die, I'll apologize.”
“Great.”
Susie squeezed his paw once.
Kiro squeezed back.
He didn't let go until she actually needed both paws again.
Even that, she put hers back near his afterward.
Kiro noticed that too.
He noticed everything.
They eventually turned onto a narrow street.
Kiro could already see people outside.
Small groups.
Dark clothes.
Someone smoking beside a brick wall.
Music faint through the buildings.
His stomach tightened again.
Susie noticed his expression.
“We're close.”
“I figured.”
“You still want to go?”
Kiro looked toward the people.
Then toward her.
“Yeah.”
“Sure?”
He nodded.
“I'm scared.”
A pause.
“But yeah.”
Susie smiled.
“Good.”
They found parking a few streets away.
Susie killed the engine.
The music stopped.
The truck became suddenly quiet.
The little cowboy ghost swayed once.
Twice.
Stopped.
Kiro looked through the windshield.
People were walking in the same direction.
Some laughing.
Some already clearly drunk.
He glanced down at himself.
Red plaid shirt beneath his open jacket.
For some reason, he'd spent too long choosing it.
Now surrounded by dark band shirts and jackets outside, he wondered if he'd chosen wrong.
Susie caught him looking down.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You're doing the thing.”
“What thing?”
“Thinking too much.”
Kiro looked at his shirt.
“Do I look stupid?”
Susie looked him over.
Actually looked.
Kiro immediately regretted asking.
Her eyes moved from his shirt to his face.
“No.”
A pause.
“The plaid looks good.”
Kiro stared at her.
“Oh.”
Susie looked back through the windshield.
His ears warmed.
He looked down again.
This time for a different reason.
Susie unlocked her seatbelt.
Kiro didn't
She looked toward him.
He noticed.
“I'm thinking.”
“Dangerous.”
“Fuck you.”
Susie leaned back.
She didn't open her door.
Didn't rush him.
Kiro looked down.
His paws were resting in his lap.
One of them still remembered hers.
He breathed in.
Crowd.
Noise.
New place.
No idea what it would feel like.
No idea where anything was.
His chest tightened.
Then he looked at Susie.
She was just sitting there.
Waiting.
Not staring at him like he was fragile.
Just waiting.
Kiro clicked his seatbelt open.
“Okay.”
Susie smiled.
“Okay?”
“Before I change my mind.”
They got out.
Cold air hit Kiro immediately.
He left his jacket open, the red plaid visible underneath.
Susie locked the Ranger.
Kiro looked back at it.
Then at her.
“You know...”
Susie narrowed her eyes.
“What?”
“It's not terrible.”
“My truck?”
“Yeah.”
She stared at him.
Kiro continued walking.
“Still old.”
“It's fourteen.”
“Ancient.”
“You are twenty-five.”
“Different.”
“How?”
Kiro looked at her.
“I have feelings.”
Susie laughed.
Their shoulders bumped as she caught up.
The bass became clearer with every block.
Not just sound anymore.
A faint vibration through the pavement.
Kiro's ears lifted.
He could feel it in his chest.
His nervousness was still there.
But something else was starting to push against it.
Excitement.
Susie looked at him.
“You hear it?”
Kiro nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Still want to go?”
He stared at the dark entrance ahead.
People disappearing through it.
Lights somewhere inside.
Music beneath everything.
Then he looked at her.
“Yeah.”
Susie held out her paw.
Not grabbing him.
Just offering it.
Kiro looked down.
Then placed his paw in hers.
“Don't lose me.”
The words came out before he thought about them.
Susie looked at him.
Kiro immediately regretted how serious they sounded.
He tried to smile.
“I'm expensive.”
Susie squeezed his paw.
“I'll try.”
Kiro squeezed back.
Together, they walked toward the door.