KIRO’S STORY / CHAPTER 28 OF 36
Road
by hasira · about 11 min read
The drive home after the gas station was almost completely silent.
Not awkward.
Neither of them had enough energy left for awkward.
The concert had destroyed their ears.
The terrible hot dogs had barely counted as food.
And the kiss...
Kiro wasn't thinking about that.
He was absolutely thinking about that.
He sat in the passenger seat with his head against the window.
Every few minutes his eyes moved toward Susie.
Then away.
Susie did the same.
Neither mentioned it.
At some point Kiro noticed the Ranger drifting slowly toward the line.
His ears lifted.
“Susie.”
“Mhm.”
Her eyes looked heavy.
Very heavy.
“How tired are you?”
“I'm fine.”
The truck moved slightly again.
Kiro stared at her.
“That's my line.”
“I'm fine.”
“You almost fell asleep.”
“I blinked.”
“For half a fucking century.”
Susie rubbed one eye.
“I'm almost there.”
“No.”
She glanced at him.
“What?”
“My house is closer.”
“Kiro...”
“You're staying.”
Susie raised an eyebrow.
He pointed toward the road.
“I'm not letting you drive farther like this.”
“I've driven tired before.”
“Congratulations, that's stupid.”
Susie stared at him.
Kiro crossed his arms.
“Stay at mine.”
A pause.
“You can leave tomorrow.”
Susie's expression softened slightly.
“Okay.”
Kiro blinked.
That had been easier than expected.
“...Okay.”
They barely made it to the couch.
Kiro kicked his shoes off.
Susie dropped her jacket over a chair.
Neither even discussed sleeping arrangements.
Kiro sat down.
Susie sat beside him.
Kiro leaned back.
His eyes closed.
“Give me like...”
Nothing.
Susie looked toward him.
Kiro was already sleeping.
Completely.
Head tilted against the couch.
Red plaid shirt wrinkled.
Mouth slightly open.
Susie smiled.
“Impressive.”
She pulled the blanket from the back of the couch.
Covered him.
Then sat back down.
Her own eyes closed.
Maybe a minute later, her head rested against his shoulder.
Neither moved again until morning.
Kiro woke first.
Sunlight.
Neck hurting.
Again.
“Of course.”
Susie was asleep against him.
One paw resting loosely near his side.
Kiro looked at her.
Then remembered the night before.
Concert.
Holding paws.
Gas station.
Nice couple.
Susie standing close.
Her eyes closing.
Her lips against his.
Kiro's face immediately became hot.
“Oh, fuck.”
Susie moved slightly.
Kiro froze.
She didn't wake.
He stared straight ahead.
Be normal.
A pause.
You kissed her.
His ears heated.
She kissed you.
“Worse.”
She opened one eye.
“What?”
Kiro stared.
“...Morning.”
She closed her eye again.
“No.”
Kiro smiled.
“Fair.”
They eventually managed breakfast.
Actually breakfast this time.
Kiro made sure of it.
Susie sat at the kitchen table with messy hair, drinking water and looking like she had personally declared war on consciousness.
Kiro watched her.
“I have an idea.”
“No.”
“You don't even know what it is.”
“It's morning.”
“It's almost noon.”
“Morning.”
Kiro leaned against the counter.
“You have plans today?”
Susie looked suspicious.
“No.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
Kiro smiled slightly.
“I want to take you somewhere.”
That woke her up a little.
“Where?”
“Somewhere.”
“Very specific.”
“It's supposed to be a surprise.”
Susie looked at him.
Kiro looked unusually pleased with himself.
That made her even more suspicious.
“How far?”
“A while.”
“Walking?”
“No.”
Susie slowly lowered her glass.
“Kiro.”
He smiled.
“No.”
“You don't even know what I'm asking.”
“I do.”
She stared at him.
Kiro glanced through the window toward the Ranger.
Susie followed his eyes.
Then looked back at him.
“You want to drive my truck.”
Kiro rubbed the back of his neck.
“Can I?”
Susie stared.
A long time.
Then:
“Do you have a driver's license?”
Kiro's expression became slightly guilty.
“Not really.”
“Not really?”
“No.”
“Kiro.”
“I don't.”
Susie leaned back.
“Then how the fuck are you planning to drive?”
Kiro hesitated.
“I've driven before.”
“A car?”
“...No.”
Susie covered her face.
“Oh my god.”
“Listen.”
“I'm listening.”
Kiro rubbed his palms against his jeans.
“When I was little, my dad taught me how to drive a tractor.”
Susie lowered her paws.
That answer clearly wasn't what she'd expected.
Kiro looked down.
“Like... really little.”
“How little?”
“I don't know.”
He shrugged.
“Small enough that I probably shouldn't have been driving a fucking tractor.”
Susie stared.
Kiro gave a small smile.
“I liked it.”
That smile faded almost immediately.
“Back then.”
A pause.
“It was one of the few things with him that...”
Kiro stopped.
Susie waited.
“It wasn't bad.”
His eyes moved somewhere else.
“He'd sit there and tell me what to do.”
“Sometimes he'd let me steer.”
“Later I did more.”
Kiro rubbed his thumb against his palm.
“I remember liking the machine.”
“Not really everything around it.”
Susie nodded slowly.
Kiro looked toward the truck again.
“I haven't driven anything in years.”
“Cars aren't tractors.”
“I know.”
“Your confidence worries me.”
“It's mostly fake.”
“That worries me more.”
Kiro laughed.
Then became serious again.
“I remember how it works.”
“Mostly.”
Susie stared.
“Mostly.”
“Yeah.”
“Kiro.”
“I'll go slow.”
He stepped closer to the table.
“We'd only be on normal roads for a little bit.”
“Then it's mostly forest roads.”
“That's somehow not better.”
“It is.”
“They're empty.”
“They're also trees.”
Kiro smiled.
“I noticed those.”
Susie stayed unconvinced.
Kiro looked at her.
Really looked.
“I want to show you this place.”
Her expression changed slightly.
“I haven't been in there in...”
He thought.
“Years.”
“Maybe longer.”
“I barely remember the way.”
“Excellent.”
“But I remember the place.”
A pause.
“And I know you'll like it.”
Susie looked toward the window.
At her Ranger.
Then back at Kiro.
“You really want to do this.”
“Yeah.”
She hesitated.
Kiro's expression softened.
“You can say no.”
Susie stayed quiet.
Then Kiro asked:
“Do you trust me?”
That didn't make the decision easier.
Susie exhaled.
“Unfortunately.”
Kiro smiled.
“That's a yes?”
“If I tell you to stop, you stop.”
“Immediately.”
“If I think you're doing something stupid, we're switching.”
“Okay.”
“And if you crush my truck...”
“I'll die before you can kill me.”
“Kiro.”
“Okay. Sorry.”
Susie stood.
She pointed at him.
“Slow.”
“Slow.”
“Very slow.”
“Painfully.”
Susie grabbed her keys.
“I already regret this.”
Kiro held out his paw.
She dropped the keys into it.
His smile disappeared for a second.
The weight of them suddenly made everything real.
“Okay.”
The driver's seat felt wrong.
That was the first problem.
Kiro sat behind the wheel.
Adjusted himself.
Looked at everything.
Wheel.
Mirrors.
Pedals.
Gearshift.
Susie sat beside him.
Watching.
Kiro took a deep breath.
Then another.
Susie noticed.
“You sure?”
He looked at her.
She wasn't teasing anymore.
Actually worried.
Kiro breathed out slowly.
“Yeah.”
A pause.
“Just give me a second.”
Susie nodded.
Kiro put both paws on the wheel.
Susie noticed.
For a moment, he wasn't twenty-five.
Something larger surrounded him.
Old metal.
Diesel smell.
His father's voice beside him.
“Slowly.”
Kiro's paws tightened.
Then he blinked.
Ford Ranger.
Susie.
Morning.
Not then.
Now.
“Okay.”
He started the engine.
Nothing exploded.
Kiro smiled slightly.
“Good start.”
Susie stared at him.
“Please focus.”
“Right.”
He looked over everything again.
For a few seconds, the controls felt unfamiliar.
Then something old returned.
Not perfectly.
Enough.
Kiro checked the mirrors.
Then checked them again.
Susie noticed.
“Nervous?”
“Terrified.”
“Good.”
“Why good?”
“Means you're not stupid enough to think you're good at this.”
“Comforting.”
Kiro slowly backed the Ranger out.
He checked behind him.
Then one mirror.
Then the other.
The truck moved carefully.
Painfully carefully.
Susie watched everything.
Kiro straightened the wheel.
Stopped.
Breathed.
Then moved forward.
The neighborhood was almost empty.
Late enough that most people had already gone to work.
Early enough that the roads still felt quiet.
Kiro drove like every mailbox was waiting to jump in front of him.
Susie eventually relaxed slightly.
Slightly.
“You know you can go faster than fifteen.”
“No.”
“Kiro.”
“You said slow.”
“I didn't mean funeral procession.”
“You should've specified.”
He made another turn.
Carefully.
Susie watched him.
“You actually remember.”
Kiro glanced at her.
“I told you.”
“Look at the road.”
“Fuck.”
He looked forward immediately.
Susie laughed.
Kiro smiled.
A few streets later, they reached the edge of town.
Kiro's shoulders had started loosening.
The movements felt less foreign.
Still careful.
Still thinking about everything.
But less like operating alien machinery.
Then he turned off the paved road.
Susie looked ahead.
Forest.
A narrow dirt path disappeared between the trees.
She looked at Kiro.
“This is where you murder me.”
“Yeah.”
He shifted slightly in his seat.
“Whole thing was very elaborate.”
“Concert.”
“Hot dogs.”
“First kiss.”
“All part of the plan.”
Susie stared.
Kiro nodded seriously.
“Now I murder us both on a tree.”
“Us?”
“I'm inexperienced.”
“Fantastic.”
The Ranger bounced over the first rough section.
Susie grabbed the handle above the door.
Kiro laughed.
“Trust.”
“Shut up.”
The road got worse.
Mud dried into deep lines.
Loose stones.
Roots.
Potholes that looked old enough to have names.
Kiro slowed again.
The Ranger rocked from side to side.
Susie looked at him.
“Maybe don't destroy my suspension.”
“I'm trying.”
“You picked this road.”
“I didn't build it.”
“Convenient.”
The trees became thicker.
No houses.
No other cars.
No signs except occasional faded markers Kiro barely remembered.
He kept looking ahead.
Thinking.
Was it left here?
A fork appeared.
Kiro slowed.
Susie noticed.
“Lost?”
“No.”
“You look lost.”
“I'm remembering.”
“That means lost.”
Kiro looked left.
Then right.
Something about one path felt familiar.
A crooked tree.
Old wooden post.
Kiro pointed.
“That way.”
“Confident?”
“Sixty percent.”
Susie stared.
Kiro turned left.
“That's above half.”
“Wonderful.”
After another few minutes, the path became smoother.
Kiro relaxed enough to press a little more.
Not fast.
Just faster than crawling.
He changed gears.
The Ranger moved through the forest.
Sunlight flashed between branches.
Susie watched the trees.
Then Kiro.
He was smiling.
Not nervously.
Actually smiling.
“You like driving.”
Kiro's expression changed slightly.
“I used to.”
“With your dad.”
“Yeah.”
A pause.
“That's weird.”
“What?”
Kiro kept his eyes ahead.
“Remembering something with him and not immediately hating it.”
Susie stayed quiet.
Kiro rubbed one thumb against the steering wheel.
“I liked tractors.”
He smiled faintly.
“Big fucking machines.”
“Very subtle.”
“I was a child.”
“Children famously hate big machines.”
“Exactly.”
His expression softened.
“I'd forgotten that part.”
Susie looked at him.
Kiro didn't say anything else.
Didn't need to.
The Ranger hit another bump.
Both bounced.
“Fuck.”
Susie grabbed the handle again.
Kiro laughed.
“Still trust me?”
“Less every minute.”
“Good.”
He took one paw briefly away from the wheel.
Held it above the center console.
Palm open.
Susie looked at it.
Then at him.
Kiro kept his eyes forward.
“Do you trust me?”
Susie stared at his waiting paw.
Same place hers had been on the drive to the concert.
She smiled.
Then put her paw into his.
“Yeah.”
Kiro's fingers closed around hers.
For only a moment.
Warm.
Firm.
Then he let go and put his paw back where it belonged.
Susie looked at him.
“Responsible.”
“I'm growing.”
“Terrifying.”
Kiro smiled.
The road narrowed again.
Branches scraped lightly along the sides of the Ranger.
Susie winced every time.
“Relax.”
“That's my paint.”
“It's character.”
“I already have character.”
“Your truck does.”
“Fuck you.”
Kiro laughed.
Then suddenly slowed.
Susie looked ahead.
“What?”
Kiro stared through the windshield.
Something had appeared between the trees.
Old wood.
Tall.
He smiled.
“Oh.”
“You found it?”
Kiro nodded.
“Yeah.”
He looked almost surprised.
“I actually fucking found it.”
The road opened into a small clearing.
Beyond it, through the trees, water.
A lake.
Still.
Dark.
Reflecting the pale sky.
And near the edge of the clearing stood an old watchtower.
Wood and metal.
Tall enough to rise above the trees.
Weathered.
Clearly old.
But not destroyed.
Someone still cared for it.
The path around was clear.
Some boards looked newer than others.
No broken windows.
No graffiti covering everything.
Just quiet.
Susie stared through the windshield.
Kiro parked.
Turned off the engine.
Silence filled the truck.
Real silence.
No traffic.
No music.
Only wind moving through the trees.
Susie slowly looked at him.
“You knew this was there?”
Kiro nodded.
“I came here once.”
“Once?”
“A long time ago.”
He looked toward the tower.
“I wasn't even sure it still existed.”
Susie's eyes moved toward the lake.
Then the tower.
Then the forest.
Kiro watched her reaction carefully.
“Well?”
Susie opened the door.
Kiro frowned.
“That's not an answer.”
She got out.
“Kiro.”
“What?”
“Get out of the truck.”
He smiled.
Cold forest air hit him.
Different from town.
Cleaner.
Wet earth.
Leaves.
Lake water.
Kiro closed the driver's door.
Susie was already walking toward the tower.
He followed.
“You like it?”
“Are you fucking serious?”
Kiro smiled wider.
“I'll take that as yes.”
Susie looked up.
The tower disappeared into the branches above them.
“You brought me to an abandoned watchtower beside a lake.”
“Technically it's maintained.”
“By who?”
“No idea.”
“That's reassuring.”
Kiro walked beside her.
“I knew you'd like it.”
Susie looked at him.
“How?”
Kiro shrugged.
“You like old things.”
“Photography.”
“Forests.”
“Places nobody else gives a shit about.”
Susie raised an eyebrow.
“Was that supposed to be romantic?”
Kiro stopped.
His ears warmed.
“I...”
Susie smiled.
Kiro looked away.
“Shut up.”
She laughed.
Then she reached for his paw.
This time Kiro didn't hesitate.
Their fingers settled together.
Susie looked toward the tower again.
“So.”
Kiro followed her eyes.
“So?”
“We climbing that?”
Kiro stared upward.
A lot of stairs.
Very old stairs.
He considered his life choices.
Then smiled.
“Obviously.”
Susie squeezed his paw.
They walked toward it together.