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“I can’t stay here Master, for so long I was under the grips of the Sohma family and now I am finally free.” Kyo says from his spot on the engawa, watching as the youngest class at the dojo lets out. Beside him Master Kazuma just smiles and listens, when Kyo asks if he was able to talk something in his gut told him it would have to do with the Sohmas’.
“Do you know where you will go?” He asks, showing Kyo he supports him with whatever he does.
“Not yet, that is what I wanted to talk to you about. I know you have contacts at a lot of dojos, and I was wondering if you could do some feeling around for me. I don’t want you to use your connections to get me the job but just to see if there are any hiring. Karate is a large part of my life and I want to keep it that way.” Kyo smiles at the idea of him getting to teach karate classes. Master Kazuma was always someone Kyo looked up to and he hoped he could be that for someone else.
Kazuma thinks for a minute before nodding. “If you’re sure, I think I can do that. Is there a specific area you would like me to focus on? I have a lot of connection throughout the country, just let me know how far.” Kyo sits there for a moment thinking of what would be best. If he had his way, he would go to the farthest city from Tokyo but then he remembers something. Tohru, he hasn’t asked her yet, but he wants to be close enough she can either visit her friends often or she can come visit him whenever she has time. Kazuma watches as Kyo begins to smile while thinking, knowing exactly what or rather who he is thinking about. “She would follow you anywhere Kyo.” Kyo looks up surprised and then blushes.
“I know she would, or she would at least try, but I haven’t asked her yet. I want to make sure I have somewhat of a plan before I drag her in with me. But, if possible, I want to stay with in a 2-hour train ride from Tokyo. That way if she comes with me, she is close enough to visit friends or if she stays, I am close enough for either of us to make weekend trips.”
“You really have put some thought into this, will you propose to Tohru before you two go?” Kyo quickly shakes his head.
“I want to get settled and make sure that I can provide for us. I don’t want to ask now and then it turns out she doesn’t want to stay. I want to give her the to get out if she wants before making a very long-term commitment.” Kazuma gives Kyo a slightly concerned look and Kyo quickly elaborates some more. “It’s not that I don’t want to marry Tohru, if I could I would have as soon as the curse broke. But I want to think about this logically, yes, we have lived together for a while but that was with other people not just the two of us. Plus, in the eyes of the Japanese government we aren’t even adults yet. I don’t want us jumping into things when we won’t have the support of the government.” Kazuma nods, understanding now where Kyo is coming from.
“You want to give Tohru the free will to decide what is best for her. I think that is a very mature way of doing things. I know of several dojos that are all with-in a 2-hour train ride from Tokyo. Let me make some calls this week and I will see what I can find.” Kyo and Kazuma both smile at each other.
“Thank you, Master.” Kyo stands up and Kazuma follows. “it’s starting to get late; I’m sure Tohru has had dinner done for a while. I better head back to the house. Knowing her she won’t eat until everyone else has a plate.” Kazuma lets out a small laugh.
“That sounds just like our dear Tohru. Go on, I will see you tomorrow for classes.” Kazuma pulls Kyo into a hug before stepping back and watching as Kyo heads for the from gates of the dojo.
Once Kyo arrives back to Shigure’s he can smell dinner from the entry way.
“I’m home!” He calls out as he makes his way into the main part of the house. From where he stands, he can hear foots steps and then Tohru’s head pops out from around the corner.
“Welcome home Kyo!” He smiles at the sight of his girlfriend and makes his way into the kitchen. “The others went ahead and ate dinner because we weren’t sure what time you would be home. But I set your plate in the warmer, so it is still nice and hot.” He watches as she opens the over and pulls out a plate with his food.
“Did you keep your food warm?” He asks as he takes the plate from her hands. She smiles sheepishly at him then glances over to the counter where another untouched plate.
“I didn’t want to eat until I made sure you had enough on your plate.” Kyo glances between the two plates and see how little she has on it.
“Is that all that was left for you?” She nods.
“Haru and Momiji came over unexpectedly, so I hadn’t made a lot of extra food. But it’s ok, this is plenty for me to eat.” She tries to reason but Kyo just rolls his eyes.
“You need more than that to ear you idiot.” He says affectionately. Tohru quickly shakes her head.
“I’m fine, I promise. You had practice and taught classes at the dojo today, you need to eat a lot to keep up your energy. If I get hungry later, I can make a late night snack.” She gives Kyo a determined look and he sighs, giving up on the argument.
“Fine but as soon as you feel hungry later you tell me so I can make you something.” Tohru softly smiles.
“Deal.” They both take their pates to the table and take a seat. “So how was your day after school?’
“It was fine. Master had me help teach his middle level class because the normal instructor called in sick with the flu. It was actually a lot of fun; they are more our age, so it was interesting to observe. I love teaching the beginners, but it was refreshing not to have to remind them the basics of how to punch or kick.” Tohru giggles.
“I’m sure your beginners missed you though.” Kyo shrugged.
“I watched them as the left earlier, they didn’t seem to upset. Though that could be because their instructor today mentioned something about a free day.” He laughs at the thought of his 5–7-year old’s running around the hall.
“That definitely could be it. I know if I went from having a strict class to being allowed to run around and act my age, I wouldn’t be to upset either.” Tohru thought about the chaos that she was sure the class was and laughed more. Kyo was very good with the youngest class at the dojo. He was able to get them to listen while also making sure that they feel listened too as well. She had gotten to sit in on one of the classes the other week and she felt so much pride watching Kyo do what he loves.
She turns back to Kyo and listens as he continues talking about his day and what happened during his classes and personal practice. She smiled when he would get excited and got worried when he would mention someone causing issues. They sat there talking and eating late into the night, enjoying each other’s company.
A week later Kyo was pulled out of class by Master Kazuma where he took him to his office.
“I just heard back from the final dojo I reached out to, 7 of the 8 are very interested in hearing from you.” Kazuma passes Kyo a list and Kyo can’t help but smile. This was the first step into starting his new life, a new life where Tohru would hopefully follow. “They are all waiting for a call from you. Take this list and look over it before you come to any decision. Once you have decided, let me know and we will take the next steps. Kyo nods and goes to leave but stops at the door. Kazuma watches curiously as Kyo takes a deep breath and turns back to face him.
“Thank you, Dad.” Kazuma freezes at first, unsure if he heard Kyo correctly. But when Kyo looks down at his feet nervously Kazuma knows he heard him right.
“You’re welcome, Son.” Kyo’s head snaps back up and again he is smiling brightly. “Now, you better get back to class. I’d hate to have to call these dojos again and tell them you were slacking off and can’t join them after all.” Kyo knew his father was joking but nodded before leaving the main office. Kazuma watched out the window as Kyo ran down the engawa back to his class, the smile on his face never leaving.
Kazuma thinks back to the day when Kyo told him that he would work hard until he felt he was worthy to call him his father. Though Kazuma was proud of Kyo no matter what he did in that moment he felt nothing but pure joy. After so many years of being referred to as ‘Master’ Kyo had finally called him dad.
Kazuma was unsure how long he sat in his office thinking of the events that had just unfolded but next thing he knew Kunimitsu had entered the office with a slight look of worry on his face.
“Are you ok Kazuma? You have been sitting in here for a very long time.” Kazuma blinked and looked at the clock that hung on the wall, on it, it read 7:15. Kazuma was surprised Kyo left his office about 6, he had been sitting there for over an hour. Looking up at Kunimitsu, Kazuma smiled and nodded.
“I’m fine, thank you for checking on me. I was just doing some thinking. I heard back from the last dojo for Kyo today, almost every dojo is interested in having him work for them.” Kunimitsu nods.
“That is very exciting for Kyo. Did anything else happen? I’ve known you a very long time, I could say I know you better than anyone else, but I’ve never seen you so deep in thought you lose track of time like this.” Kazuma laughs at Kunimitsu and takes his hand in his place a kiss on the knuckles.
“Yes, I’d say you know me better than almost everyone, including Kyo, and yes something else did happen today. While Kyo was in here earlier he called me ‘Dad’ for the first time.” Kunimitsu’s eyes widen at Kazuma’s confession. He has known Kyo for years and he knows how much power that one little word has for both Kyo and Kazuma. For Kyo it is admitting he is deserving of a father’s love after so many years of being told he didn’t deserve ones love and for Kazuma it meant that he had someone there who needed him. When Kazuma finally accepted himself and the fact he would never produce his own children it had been hard, but Kunimitsu tried his best to reassure Kazuma that Kyo was his son whether he felt ready to say it or not.
“That’s because you are his dad.” Kunimitsu simply says. He could elaborate and say all the amazing things there are about Kazuma, but he knows that is not what Kazuma needs to hear. All he needs is someone to listen and be excited with him. Again, Kazuma smiles at Kunimitsu and kisses his knuckles. “So, what is the next step for Kyo?” Kunimitsu asks while taking a seat across from Kazuma.
“Well, it depends on what Kyo is wanting to do, he will either contact the dojos and find the best suit for him or he will ask Tohru if she will come with him that way she can help find where they will end up.” Kazuma explains while looking over some of the financial paperwork he had been putting off. Kazuma knew not to worry about Kyo because he knew that Kyo would do what was best for both him and Tohru when it came to the move.
After Kyo finished his class, he made his way to Shigure’s house, he was skipping his last class of the day to accompany Tohru to her family grave. It had been a while since Tohru had visited the grave and he wanted to make sure she had all the support she needed while there. It was there that he would finally ask Tohru to move with him, now that he knew he had places willing to hire him he wanted to make sure Tohru had a say in where they ended up if she agreed to move with him. The walk to the house went by quicker than usual and before he knew it he was standing outside the front door, taking a deep breath he entered mentally preparing him for the life changing moments that would soon follow that afternoon.