By Chiki Yumeshisa
Disclaimer: I don�t own Rurouni Kenshin��.all original characters/ideas are mine to claim.
AN: Um�some people have begun to believe that I hate rockers. Actually, no I don�t, as I happen to like rock music and have a ton of friends who are rockers. Not to mention that my sister is a rocker and I love her dearly. Sorry to have caused some confusion. Kenshin may not like rock in this story, but I happen to. (Linkin Park is cool.)
Warnings: Swearing. Rated PG13. (wow, rating went up already?)
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CHAPTER 3
- Arguments and Lies -
I was not impressed by the interview at all. I did not know whether or not I liked his teacher, with the way she seemed so�..poignant in her subtle ways.
I was not of the mind to meet with her again, actually. If I could avoid her at all costs, I would. I could only hope that Kenji made it so. But, I had promised her to talk with him.
He was not home, as he had said, so I was alone in the house. No lights were on, and the way it was left was the way I returned to it. This time, however, there were no dishes waiting for me.
And something about the way the house was so dark and foreboding made me want out. So I deposited my pack onto the kitchen�s table and got a drink of water. I intended to return later, and as jeans were not comfortable to run in, quickly changed into a pair of track pants.
Even though I was dead tired, I just couldn�t stay. The phone rang, but I didn�t feel like getting that. I wasn�t hungry either, as I had eaten before the interview, so I left without taking a bite of anything. Maybe if I went for a jog, I�d fall asleep without having to think too much.
The temperature had dropped in comparison to the way it had been earlier that morning. It was starting to get a little chilly, but by the time I realized this, I was already two blocks down the street. I could get lazy sometimes, and I decided that if I kept up a good tempo, I would not feel the chilly air.
I began to jog, hoping to work up a sweat at least. I hadn�t done this in a long time, as I was really busy, but the news that Kenji was not doing so well in anything made me edgy. I managed to keep up a nice pace, concentrating on my breathing and for some strange reason, keeping the beat of my footfalls in time with one of Linkin Park�s songs called Numb.
The jog became a brisk walk, and then, became a normal rate. I guess I couldn�t keep it up for as long as I had hoped.
I passed a park on the way, totally oblivious as to where exactly I was. It made no difference really: I would find my way back.
Not able to stand the cold any more after an hour or two, I ducked my head into my sweater as much as possible and began to trot back. It took me much longer than I had expected, and by the time I managed to fumble with my keys in the doorway, I barely caught the telephone as it rang loudly in the darkness.
Switching the light on and wincing at the pain it caused, I grabbed it, before the answering machine could get it.
My voice sounded scratchy. �Hello?�
A man�s voice answered. �Is this the Himura residence?�
I sucked in my breath. ��.Yeah�� I answered slowly. �Is there a problem?�
�We�ve got your son.� My blood seemed to slowly start freezing at his words. Ransom? I almost missed his next ones. ��.he�s at the police station right now.�
Police station?
�What?� I asked, confused. They must have been mistaken: Kenji had told me that he would be at Yahiko�s. Yet�.he had a tendency to lie��.
�He was found drinking at a bar.� The man, who was a police officer, was saying. �We held him under arrest. At the present moment, he is too drunk to know what is going on. We ask you to come gather him.�
My hand was shaking as I reached for a paper and pen. Police stations were scattered all over the place, and he could have been at any one of them. I quickly jotted down the direction and location, praying that I would be able to read my own illegible print. Thanking him, I fumbled to put the phone down.
I cursed in my mind as I pulled on a thick jacket and went back into the cold.
Again.
It was times like these I wished I had a car.
0-0-0-0-0-0
Hailing a taxi was not very fun. They all either seemed occupied, or they were going the opposite direction and could not come to pick me up. I was about to give up and take the bus, when finally, one had the decency to stop and inquire.
The driver was a man who looked younger than me. Probably new to the job, because he sounded so cheery. �Where to, sir?�
�The police station.� Was my reply, climbing into the back seat.
His eyebrows shot up, teasingly. �Oh, are you in trouble with the authorities?�
I gave him a pained smile. �No, my son is there. Could we make this quick?� I didn�t want to sound rude, but I was anxious to get Kenji back so we could both get out of trouble. He seemed to understand, and began to drive. He made small talk on the way.
�What�d your son do, so early into the night?�
I glanced at the houses and stores as they whizzed by. �He got himself drunk.�
The man laughed. �Well, that isn�t new: kids these days, I tell you � they�re all the same.�
Tell me about it, I thought darkly. I shot him another smile, and he continued. �My daughter is turning sixteen this year, and she thinks she can do whatever she wants.� He turned us down another street. �I heard rumor she had a boyfriend.� He nodded toward me through his rearview mirror. �What would you do, if your daughter started dating at such a young age?�
My mind swirled at his question. I felt sick to the stomach again.
�I�um�..well, I don�t have a daughter.� I said lamely. I hoped that we�d reach the police station soon, because he was really starting to grate on my nerves like Kamiya-san had. Maybe it was just because I was a sensitive guy. Tonight was definitely not a good night for me.
I had no idea what to say or do when I saw Kenji. In fact, I felt so calm, it was almost scary. The police station was very crowded, with officers milling about, and a few of them had charges. There was one man who was handling himself wildly and in no time at all, a crowd of policemen were atop him, trying to restrain him.
�I�ll kill you all!� He was screaming, at the top of his lungs. �Let go of me!� Of course, the police were not stupid enough to listen to him, and pretty soon, he was led out in handcuffs.
Hysterical crying was the next thing that filled my ears. It belonged to some woman that was sitting in a chair right behind me. Groaning inwardly, I cursed my luck: I really didn�t want to be there.
In another area of the room three policemen were arguing with some middle-aged men about something. One of the policemen waved his nightstick threateningly. Their voices raised but I was too far away from them and couldn�t hear what they were yelling about. I turned away as the three policemen began to pull the men away into a room.
A policewoman blinked at me in surprise when I touched her shoulder and inquired about my son. Most likely she was thinking that I was some criminal as well, and my cheeks heated up for the second time that day.
�What�s his name?� Her voice was nasal, her face had a pinched look to it.
�Himura Kenji.�
�Hold on a moment.� I guess she was in such a rush she had skipped all politeness, because she promptly turned her back and left me to stand there. I would have been waiting around forever � she forgot about me too, it seemed, as she had no idea what I was talking about when I asked her where Kenji was again.
Slowly, little by little, my patience was wearing thin. The noise and the confusion were too much to bear, and I forced myself to stay in my seat and wait.
When she returned, this time, Kenji came stumbling out, reeking of alcohol and smoke. He could barely lift his head, let alone walk properly. His long red hair fell in a wet mess down his back, the tie keeping it up and back lost, the thin strands sticking to his face.
Getting up from my chair, I went to take him from the two who were the ones holding the guy on his feet. He swayed dangerously, delirious and confused. That was clearly evident, as he didn�t even recognize me. The two officers seemed a bit wary of me as they leaned his heavy body onto mine. I managed not to gag at his smell. What the heck had he been doused in?
The one standing to my right began to speak. �You do realize sir, that your son is not of age to be drinking yet.�
Nodding stiffly, I shifted my weight so I wouldn�t be crushed by Kenji�s unconscious form. Hoping that he wouldn�t start drooling on me or something, I tilted his head back a bit. The policeman had a folder in hand. �He�s already got a record, Himura-san.�
All of a sudden it was my fault? It wasn�t as if I had asked Kenji to go out and intoxicate himself. I found myself nodding. �I understand sir��.� I was saying. �I didn�t expect him to go out and do this.� Well, it was the truth.
He was eyeing Kenji�s files � he had a lot of them? � with a critical eye. �He�ll have to be placed on house arrest.� was the conclusion. He proceeded to tell me a couple of his offenses, which I knew were not the only ones Kenji had committed.
They consisted of stealing, skipping school, brawls, and smoking on a certain street. I half feared to hear him say something like �trying drugs� but he didn�t. Though, I had a suspicion that that couldn�t have been very far down that list.
Still, house arrest not only punished Kenji, but myself! Three whole weeks holed up with my son was not something I was too pleased to do. As much as it was denied, we could not stand each other. Added to my pain was the fact that I had to pay for the fines he had accumulated. I was still responsible for him after all. There went my paychecks for the next two weeks.
Of course, I could not argue with him nor did I want to. At the moment, I wanted to go home and get Kenji changed. Of course, that awful smell probably wouldn�t disappear very quickly. Thus, I agreed to his statements.
Thankfully, another officer offered to give me a ride home when he realized that I would have to hail a taxi, and I looked like I was having trouble carrying the teen who was just as big as me.
Kenji went in the back seat, and I sat up at the front. I think I fell asleep, and it must be admitted that I was grateful: I don�t think I was up to making small talk, and with a police officer no less.
When we reached my three bedroom house, it was close to 11:00. Thanking the officer when he helped me haul Kenji out from the car, I searched for my keys and nearly dropped them in my haste to open the door. I doubt I would have been able to make it home on foot or wait any longer for a taxi. The car behind me sped off as I stepped into the house.
Forgetting about taking off my jacket, I went straight to the washroom. By this point, Kenji had come to a little. He looked more alert, and he tried jerking out of my grasp once or twice, but it didn�t work.
I stripped him of his clothing. That smell had to go. I don�t remember ever giving Kenji a bath, but that was not going to stop me today. The water was on warm, a little colder than hot though, as I wanted to wake him up.
He came to instantly, with a yelp, trying to get away from the spray, but I held him into place. He flailed, letting out a string of curses and a few other choice words I did not know kids his age already knew. Reaching over him, I pulled down the bottle of shampoo and began to lather it onto his hair. My fingers got tangled as Kenji kept shaking his head to try and rid himself of the invading hands.
Today, bathing rituals could be skipped. I managed to soap him up too. It would be difficult for me to clean up the bathtub afterwards, but that was not the problem at hand. He seemed either to give up struggling or too tired to, because his resistance broke down, and he went limp in my grasp.
Making sure all the suds were washed out, I wrapped him up in a towel, like I would wrap rice in sushi, and got him out of the tub. He went with little complaint and I got him into his room, sitting him on his bed. He seemed to sway a little, and then sat watching me, sullenly, his eyes like two angry orbs.
I pulled out a yukata for him to wear and helped him shrug it on. He helped himself when it came to putting on his boxers. Warm and dry, I pushed him under his blankets, helping him to lie down.
His words were slow and slurred as he blinked up at me when I tucked the sheets under his chin. �I hate��I hate you��� he whispered. My hands froze, and then they worked again, pulling Kenji�s hair out from behind him to lie fanned out over his pillow. I would not take the time to brush it out or dry it for him. It would have to do that on its own.
I already knew he hated me. It just hurt like a million bullets to the chest when it came from his lips. What was the saying, �the truth hurts�? Well, just to let you know: it did. I was smarting from that remark, but I didn�t say anything. Instead, I gathered the fallen towel on the floor and went to go back to the washroom to clean it up. I would never be able to sleep with the thought that something in the house wasn�t neat.
Kenji must have listened to my ranting about being tidy because his room wasn�t a big mess as I always feared it would be. Unless it was absolutely necessary, I would not go into it. I believed in letting children have their own space and private time. My own father would not hear of that, as he would come in uninvited all the time.
On the walls were posters of music groups, and random pictures of ads. Even his desk was tidy. His school books were piled neatly there, pens to one side, pencils to the other. His backpack was sitting on his chair. The floor was a bit cluttered, with his clothing and a few of his video games. I nearly stepped on FINAL FANTASY TACTICS ADVANCED. Absently, I picked that up and put it on his dresser.
A few action figures were there, along with photos. A few of his classmates and a picture of��
I recoiled from it.
But I didn�t fail to see how happy he had been.
I went to put out the lights and closed the door behind me, leaving Kenji alone, snoring softly on his bed.
0-0-0-0-0-0
Ironically, I was the first out of bed even though I had gone to sleep at almost one in the morning. Having been too exhausted the night before, I had not been able to take my own shower, and so decided to do so when I woke up. I�d have had to wake up to go to work anyway so it would have been useless to try and get some more sleep.
When I walked out of the washroom, Kenji shot in after me. I heard him start retching into the toilet bowl, and I winced. It sounded like his guts were coming out next. I did not care to hear that, but I guess I understood how miserable vomiting could be. I was next to him in a moment, patting his back pitifully, not knowing what else I could do. He flinched away though, when he realized I was there.
�Don�t touch me!�
I backed off a bit, as he pulled away from the toilet seat. Oh the joys of a hangover. He deserved it, I guess. Pardon me for my disdainfulness.
He doubled over with pain, clutching his head as a pounding headache took its toll. Growling under his breath, he staggered away, back to his room.
After slipping into a pair of black jeans and another normal sweatshirt, I made my way to the medicine cabinet. Grabbing a bottle of pain killers and a glass of water, I met him in his room. He was bundled miserably in his blankets again, this time, sitting up with a garbage can right next to him. He looked unsure whether he wanted to throw up or lie down.
I handed him the pills which he took wordlessly and swallowed down. I didn�t expect a thank you, so I got straight to the point.
�Kenji, I am not pleased with what you did yesterday.� Yay, captain obvious. Still, I was unable to express the disappointment I felt.
Kenji handed me back the glass, which was still half full, roughly. �Didn�t I tell you yesterday to lay off me?�
I felt my anger spark. �If �laying off you� gets you drunk, then I�ll rethink the option.�
�I am old enough to know what I�m doing.�
God, I wanted to hit him. I didn�t though, because it would solve nothing. �That�s really responsible of you, Kenji. You earned yourself house arrest for the next three weeks you know.�
�Fuck you.� He snarled.
�Fuck yourself.� I shot back. �I wasn�t the one who lied and got caught by the police.� I was beginning to snap. I guess all the tension from the last couple of days had built. �You�re only fifteen! The hell you know about being old enough.�
He looked shocked at my words. He hadn�t expected me to retaliate at his level, and he didn�t know how to respond. He should have been thankful I wasn�t like my father. I continued, �Keep it up and you might just kill yourself one of these days.�
�Maybe I will.� He muttered, pissed. �It�s better than listening to you all day. Get out.�
I really wanted to slap him one good, and I barely restrained myself. �This is my house, and I make the rules.� I told him, daring him to say something back to that. He knew there was no where to go. He was under my custody and since he was not old enough to live on his own, he�d end up living on the streets.
Kenji lifted a hand to his pounding head. �Why can�t you just leave me alone?� He demanded. His voice had gotten small, almost as if he was in despair.
�Because.� I answered, coldly. �I am your father and I am in charge. You had better start cleaning up your act.�
He didn�t seem to be in the mood to argue, and just as he was about to lie back in bed, he bent over, grabbing the waste basket to him and hurling. I handed him the unfinished water when he was done, and watched him drink the contents greedily.
His eyes were red rimmed and his face was pale. His hair was still in loose strands around his face neck and shoulders. �So, what do you want then?� It took me a moment to realize he had been asking me something. I guess he was anxious to get me out.
�First things first,� I took the glass back again and put it on his desk. Biology was the top text book that I saw and I remembered my talk with Kaoru the other day. �You will attend classes and finish all homework. No phone calls for the next three weeks.�
�What!� he sputtered. It sounded like I had taken away part of his life. Well, maybe I had, but my father could come up with worse. Compared to him, I was being pretty lenient.
I held up my hand to silence him. �You are to go home straight after school because the police are monitoring you. You have a curfew up to 6:00 every day, or you will be arrested.�
The guy was growling beneath his breath, but he didn�t protest. Lastly, I informed him that I wanted none of his friends over for surprise parties. He glumly agreed to that too. I guess I was being a bit hard, but then again, it was high time I set some rules.
After our little �talk� I went to prepare some breakfast. Even though it had been me doing most of the talking, I had found out that if pressured to do something, Kenji would. It didn�t bother me that perhaps he might hate me, as apparently, he already did. He did eat the breakfast though, and I called the school, informing them that my son was not fit to attend classes that day. No reasons given of course.
The next three weeks looked like it was going to be fun.
God help me.
Streets in Tokyo are very confusing and one can get lost really easily. Smoking in Japan is very common, but on some streets, smoking is not allowed and if you are caught, you must pay a fine that is up to at least $150 US dollars. Also, bathing usually happens outside of the tub rather than on the inside as the tub is used for soaking.
To Be Continued��..
AN: Well, there was a bit of a blow up, and the next three weeks will be very interesting. I hope that you guys liked it, and I will come out with the next chapter next Friday! I love the support I got, and we shall see how this story develops. Please do leave me another review.
CHAPTER 4
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