"The occasion?", Kieran hummed as he leaned against the counter. It was later the same night, when he walked in.
Audrina tilted her head back as she assorted through her cabinets above the stove tops. "I wanted to fix you dinner."
He couldn't help the smile that spread on his face. For more reasons than one. "You feel bad for not wanting to meet my mom don't you?"
"What? No", her voice grew quiet. Making him sit up and round the counter till he leaned back on the oven, she avoided eye contact continuing to the fridge to pull out what she needed. Still feeling his teasing expression watching her every move, she placed a stick of butter in the counter top next to the stove. "I can't want to do something for you?"
"Never said that", he bent down to meet her face, she side eyed him, "I was just .... curious as you would say."
Audrina pushed his face away, and kept her hand around his mouth as she stared into his eyes. The honey swirl reflective against the kitchen light. She did feel bad, but there was no way she'd admit it when he already guessed it. He gazed back at her, no need to talk for his eyes said everything; matching the smirk she still felt permanent on his face. "Are you hungry?"
His eyebrow raised, still keeping the eye contact. It was a second before slowly he nodded.
"There's your reason", she removed her hand, and placed both on his shoulders. She pushed him back to the stool on the other side of the counter, him just allowing it, "Now don't distract me."
"Ok", he scoffed. His eyes never leaving her as she walked back around. Audrina ignored his clear admiring gaze as she started.
Half-way through, she turned and stretched her arm across the counter, a spoon encased in her grip. "Here"
Kieran glanced up from his laptop, and took the spoon to try it; after his nod of approval, Audrina turned back around to finish.
"Hey, where is the document about the-."
"Rile's case.... I sent it to you yesterday"
"I don't see it", Kieran mumbled, Audrina turned with another spoonful in her hand as she rounded the corner. Approaching his side, she directed the spoon to him, which he didn't bother to grip it himself and instead tasted from her hand, as she leaned over and scrolled through his emails.
"It'd help by checking through yesterday's date", she immediately found it and clicked on the link. But when she turned to look at him, their faces in close proximity, she knew, "You knew that."
He smiled not bothering to hide the glance to her lips as he softly gripped her chin and gave her a quick yet sensual kiss. Audrina only melted into it. Feeling his smile through it.
"I did.", he finished.
"You're more trouble than I initially thought", she closed his laptop. "I told you not to distract me."
"Tastes done to me", he lifted the spoon between them.
When Audrina finally finished, they both took to sitting on the couch, watching a movie. It was almost midnight by the time they were through talking and decided to call it.
Kieran was washing the dishes while Audrina was on her laptop. "How many siblings do you have?"
"5", Kieran responded.
"Oh wow", Audrina was taken by surprise, "Were they all there when you visited?"
He turned off the sink having done with the final, dirty dish and turned to lean across the counter. "All but the oldest; she couldn't get out of work today."
She hummed, "What's the sister to brother ratio?"
"I'm the only boy out of all of us."
"There it is", she smiled as if she won a prize. Kieran smiled only in response to hers, but confusion was apparent, "It just makes sense."
He nodded an understanding, "Yea, my dad and I were out numbered every single time." Even if his voice was bright, Audrina watched as his features changed just slightly from the mention.
She tilted her head, and closed her own laptop pushing it aside, "Tell me about him."
Kieran's eyes widen for a split second. He saw the true curiosity on her face as she looked at him. And after the wave of shock, he couldn't help but soften his features to the woman before him. "Honestly, it's hard to wrap it up. He was a Health Care manager, met my mom through the job. She was the surgeon under his department."
"Wait", she held up a hand, "what do your siblings do for work?"
He blinked as her words came out shocking and of course as casually as he said his parents careers he listed off his siblings, "Oldest is a Psychiatrist, the second to youngest is a Nurse, then in between, they all work in sales or financials."
"Your family is insane.", she whispered before flicking a wrist, "Ok I'm sorry continue on."
Kieran chuckled and started back up about his father, "They had me 5 years after their final daughter, so you can say I was treated differently by him than the rest of them. He always put time aside for us to hang out and talk about 'man things' as he put it. In reality it was him teaching me how to play sports or just talking about anything I wanted. And as for a brief bunny story.... he told me a stupid horror story about a psychotic doctor dressed in a bunny suit and thought it was so funny to have my sister dress as one to emphasize the fear factor."
Audrina covered her mouth to hide the giggle. But Kieran only pretended to ignore it.
"Anyways........He told me about his heart condition when I was young, but it didn't really sink in until he was first put into the hospital."
She nodded assuring him she was listening, "He waited till after my high school graduation ceremony to talk to me about...... how serious and how promptly it was catching up to him. But even then, he fought on. He past away, assuring us he regretted nothing in his life. And only hoped that we find ourselves living life with just as little regret."
Kieran looked away, staring off someplace else. Audrina drew her eyebrows in out of empathy. The hurt now clear on his face.
"Seems your doing just that.", she spoke. Indirect mention of everything he's done.
Kieran huffed and drew back from the counter, she watched as he walked around to stand behind her. "Damn right", he bent down to kiss her temple, and against her skin he mumbled, "I don't regret a thing."
She chuckled and leaned back to rest her head against his chest. When the silence fell, them basking in vulnerable moment, Kieran looked down at her, "Maybe I shouldn't have lied to you about my sister being sick for our aquarium trip but...."
He said it so fast, Audrina barely caught it. She tilted her chin up at him, a deadpan look, "Wait what?"
"Nothing.... Nothing", he placed a hand over her eyes and titled her head back down, "Not important."
"Wait what about the card I made for her?"
"I still gave it to her."
Audrina blinked behind his hand, her eyelashes rubbing against his soft skin. And it hit her, involuntarily she pulled her lips in embarrassed, "Oh my god."
He laughed, removing his hands from around her eyes, to which she replaced with her own, leaning her elbows against the counter. Kieran placed both hands on her shoulder and squeezed, "She gave me a mouthful for lying to you if it makes you feel better."
"It doesn't", she muffled behind her hands.
Another laugh escaped his lips, and after a second, coming to terms that nothing she could do would change the fact, she sighed and leaned her head back against his chest.
"It's almost 1, you can stay the night if you want.", her voice soft.
And it before Kieran had a chance to answer; It happened. It's easy to get used to something, but like some cuts, you won't feel it until it's brought to your attention. Kureno was an odd case, she didn't feel his bond break, the connection to him, the concern, dissipating into nothing before her eyes. But this was like cold water to the face in the morning. A warning alarm in her head that someone, one person was gone. Their thoughts, concerns, broken off like nothing was their in the first place.
An empty tunnel was created, hollow echoes to no one on the other end. And she knew who it was, there was no mistaking it. She jolted up, her eyes wide. And suddenly she felt a little light headed, like the disconnection was more than a small pebble, but a rock lifted from inside her skull. She groaned and placed both hands on each side of her temple, squeezing to ease the sudden wave of airiness.
"Audrina?", Kieran leaned forward, rubbing a hand on her back, "Hey, what's wrong."
"I-.", she could only get that word out when another one replaced her every thought.
Momoji
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His curse broke.
The next day Audrina was sick. Her body and zodiac spirit not prepared for the sudden change. Kieran did stay the night, watching over her. And no matter how many times he tried to get her to explain. She either couldn't get it out or didn't even know how to explain the sensation. The light head, the dizzy feel. The thoughts now filling the empty gap, more concern for the others, for everyone who was left.
Momoji had went to school like nothing happened. But while they knew something was different about him, the only thing that had to be settled was between him and the one he used to call his God.
He stood before her; Akito on her knees.
"I'm sorry for sending you away like that, I've spent the day trying to figure out what happened. Why did mine break but no one else's? I couldn't find any good answers..... But I do know one thing. Akito, I can't spend the rest of my life by your side. It's my choice because there's nothing binding me to you now."
Akito acted in rage, she rose and slapped him across the face, the sound echoing in the room, "How dare you, you traitor!", she started beating on his chest, "If you leave me you've got no place to go. You think mommy and daddy will want you back. Because they won't, you'll never be happy again. Ever!"
Momoji looked off, skim over his eyes as he thought aloud, "it hurts...", this caused Akito to stop. "The truth is I've never felt happier, but I've never felt so lonely either. The curse may be gone; the bonds that connected me to everyone.... They are gone. But you are wrong."
Akito stood back, looking up at what used to be someone under her control. She felt small before him. Weak. She now noticed things that we're not important before.
When did he get so tall? Why did it hurt me when I hit him?
"I do have a place to go. It's just..... you don't want to admit that she is the one person we all will lean on, bond or no bond. That's what scares you."
Akito stepped back. Her head shaking without her even knowing. Momoji let her bask in that after thought as he simply turned around and waved a hand off. "Good bye Akito."
He shut the door, leaving her to fall to her knees. Staring at the wooden frame of the structure. Because she knew he was right. Even without the curse, she found a way to be a magnet, drawing everyone from Akito's own grasp. And there was nothing she could say. Instead she continued to look at the door. Listen to the fallen footsteps leave her estate and step into another life, one she desperately wanted to be apart of. It just didn't become clear until now.
All the Zodiacs had one person beside them when it was their time to depart. But Akito left it so the one person who was willing to be there for her, will not share the same connection.
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Audrina was finally able to get out of bed the following day. She walked out of her room, in nothing but a hoodie and shorts, her hair in a high puff of nothing but black and purple.
"You need to eat something", Kieran softly spoke and watched as she mindlessly walked over to her purse and picked it up to sling it over her shoulder. "Audrina.......you can't possibly be going out. You didn't sleep last night."
"Just.... I'll be right back.", she mumbled flicking her hand back. Kieran got up from the stool of the counter, ignoring the pots that were starting to simmer on the stove. Her stood in front of her placing a hand on both of her shoulders. The dreariness in her tone and body language obvious.
"Do I have to break down what I've witnessed in the past 24 hrs for you to snap out of it.", he bent down to look in her eyes. Them droopy and distant. When she didn't answer, he sighed. "On top of not sleeping, you've been mumbling about a headache all night. Threw up, and could hardly get a word out. But somehow had the strength to threaten me if I called an ambulance."
"I'm fine", she whispered placing a hand in her forehead, "I just need to check on someone."
Kieran stared down at her in disbelief, this was a complete change from the woman he was talking to just a day ago. He watched it all go to hell quicker than he thought possible.
And when he was about to ignore her, and do what he should of done in the first place, a knock sounded at the door. Audrina shot her head to the side to see. Kieran tilting his head back. And with that distraction, she moved from his grasp and walked around to the door.
She opened it and like instinct, placed both hands on each side of Momoji's face, his tears not holding back till he entered the doorway. She wiped them with her thumb.
"I-I don't- know what I'm suppose to do", he chocked.
"You don't have too.", she reassured. Momoji lifting his head to face her, not minding the presence of someone behind.
"And you-."
"Will always be here", she nodded. "Always."