The Curse of the Iwasakis

Chapter 7

Aikos pov
It was later in the evening, about an hour after I had put  the twins to bed, when Kyo arrived. I groaned as I heard a crash from mom's old room upstairs.
"KYO!!! When I said if you wanna talk later I didn't mean you had to jump through a damn window!" I shouted, making my way up the stairs.

"Damnit Aiko, it's your fault for not being more specific!" He shouted in annoyance. I laughed quietly as I reached the top of the stairs. Same old Kyo. With a sigh, I checked on the twins and found them still asleep. How the hell did they sleep through that? I wondered. Whatever. After making sure they were comfortable and wearing earmuffs to keep them from waking up later on,  I went across the hall into Moms room. The scene before me left me breathless with laughter.

"How did you manage that!" I choked out, tears streaming. Kyo had somehow gotten himself hopelessly tangled in the old blankets and was struggling to get out of them.

"Damnit woman! Help me!"

I began to laugh harder, especially when Kyo ripped the blankets and got wrapped up even more. After about ten minutes of Kyo cursing and me laughing my head off, I finally calmed down enough to help him out. Mostly.

"Hold still, give me a moment to. To..." I burst into giggles again.

"Shut up and help me already!" Kyo shouted, so tangled he could barely move.
Finally, after another ten minutes of laughter and profanities, I managed to get the sheets untangled from the annoyed ginger and shoved into a corner. A few more minutes of Kyo yelling at me and we were sitting in the living room, him sprawled on the couch like he used to when we were younger and me sitting in mom's chair across from him.

"Soo..." I started awkwardly. "I guess I have a little explaining to do..."

Kyo sat up and glared. "A little?! Aiko, you disappeared for years! You left with no warning, not even a goodbye. Akito flipped out on everyone, blaming us for your disappearance! For all we could have known you were dead! And here you are, waltzing around like nothing happened! " He stood up and got in my face, yelling as tears streaked down his face. "You have more than a little explaining to do!"

I bit back a sob as I realized just how much I had missed my stupid ginger, and.. well, everyone really, alive and dead. Without thinking I yanked on Kyos' shirt, making him fall so I could hug him.

"I'm so, so sorry!" I cried, gripping the back of Kyos shirt. "I didn't mean to hurt you, but there was a car crash and..." I started sobbing, and just hugged him tighter.
He sat still as I slowly explained what had happened, how I had lost my memory, and how I had managed to get it back. Once I was done, Kyo stayed quiet for a few minutes before he started shaking. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around me.

"I really did almost lose you, didn't I little sis?" He whispered, pulling me closer.

I nodded and sighed. "Yeah."

We sat like that for a while before I gently made him let go and stood up. "We should probably get to bed. I don't know what you're doing tomorrow but I have to take care of my siblings."

Kyo sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll head out then."

I frowned at how he phrased his sentence and crossed my arms. "You're planning on sleeping outside aren't you," I said, glaring.

Kyo froze. "Maaaayyybbbeee."

"Ya know, there's this lovely little thing called I have spare rooms." I huffed.

"Nah, I couldn't-"
"Couldn't what? Impose? You won't be." I said sternly.

"But-"

"Kyo, I'm not letting you sleep outside, period." I grabbed his shirt and started dragging him up the stairs. Kyo gave up after a few seconds of struggling and walked with me to my older brothers old room.

"Why are you putting me in your brothers room? The guest room is right over there." Kyo said, yawning as he pointed to the room across the hall.

"I know, I just want to make sure you don't try to leave by a window instead of staying the night." I said, smiling while giving Kyo an icy glare.   He flinched and I think I heard him whimper.

"Ha! Called it!" I laughed, opening the door. "So, if you need to change, clothes are in the closet over there. I better see you at breakfast." I bid Kyo a good night and went to my room.

~time skip~

I was cooking up some breakfast for the household when I heard a thud from the stairs and some cursing. With a laugh I turned with a plate of leftover rice and eggs I had just cooked and set it on the table, looking towards the stairs where Kyo appeared to have tripped on the last step. "You alright there bro?"

Kyo was dressed wearing his cargo pants from last night, but had put on my brothers red t-shirt instead of his black one. "No! Why the hell is that step there!"

I chuckled and decided to be a smart alec. "Normally it's supposed to help people not trip. Guess the step doesn't like you."

He threw a slipper at me, which I caught and put on the floor. "Shut up!"

I laughed. "Why don't you come eat? Mika and Myou aught to be down here soon for introductions."

Kyo shrugged. "Sure, but before that." He ran over and pulled me into a hug, startling me. After a second he let go, frowning. "So it wasn't my imagination, I really didn't change!"

I blinked. "Oh, yeah, forgot to tell you."

Kyo glared. "Tell me what?"

"I recently discovered that our curses don't affect each other. Haven't figured out why though."

"So you mean we could have actually played tag when we were little?!" Kyo growled. "Man that pisses me off."

I laughed and shrugged. "Too late now. Make sure you don't tell anyone, I'm trying to avoid an incident with Akito."

Just then we heard some thumps on the stairs.

"Hey you two, come meet our guest!" I called, setting the rest of the plates at the table.

"A guest?!" Mika squealed as she ran into the room, dragging Myou with her.

I grinned. "Yup! This is Sohma Kyo, a cousin of your friend, Shiro. Kyo, these are my younger siblings, Mika and Myou."

Mika stared for a moment. "Do you have the curse too, Mister Kyo?"

Kyo froze in his seat. I patted his shoulder and sighed as pulled up a chair for myself. "Yes he does, but that's not something you're supposed to ask. Also, don't be afraid to call Kyo brother, he's like one to me."
Mika blinked. "Oh! Sorry!" And with that she and Myou dug in. After that, breakfast went pretty much as expected, Mika and Myou laughing about something Shiro did, and Kyo looking around the kitchen and flipping out when he saw the toy bug on the counter. All in all, we had a lot of fun, and the twins were especially sad to see him go.

"But we wanna plaaaayyyyyy," Mika whined as we left the house.

I just chuckled. "Big bro has things he needs to do, and so do we. Say your goodbyes so we can go see Ayame."

Kyo looked confused, but Mika immediately perked up, dragging her brother around like a doll in her excitement.

"Ayame?" Kyo said, looking at me in confusion.

I shrugged and grinned. "He's my boss at work. Super flamboyant and kinda ridiculous, but the twins love him."

Just then I heard Shigure.
"Ooohhh Kyoooooooo!!"

I laughed as Kyo grew annoyed and stomped off. "Later Kyo!" And with that, my siblings and I headed off to meet up with Ayame.

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Finally updated!