Page 83 of Kimiko and the Accidental Proposal
The dog nodded. “All accounted for. We are closing the doors.”
Suuzu led Akira by the hand across the student center, as if worried he’d run off. The resident Kith were riled up, and he was fairly certain he spotted Goh-sensei on the roost where the hawks usually perched.
“Tomorrow should be interesting,” Akira said. “You think the school will tell us what’s going on?”
“There will undoubtedly be a statement.”
Akira pressed the elevator button. “Maybe we’ll find out more when we go to the Starmark compound. Argent’s bound to know.”
Suuzu hummed a vague affirmative, but he was focused on reaching their nest.
Best course, really. Conversations could wait until they were safely behind Juuyu’s extravagant barriers.
Inside, Akira moved through the familiar patterns that would give Suuzu peace of mind. Drop the keys, school bag, and shopping bag. Hang his coat. Empty his pockets. Plug in his phone.
Suuzu lined up their shoes, straightened their coats, then moved toward the closet where their bedding waited. Halfway there, he stopped short and crossed to one of the windows instead.
Hoping to calm his best friend further, Akira lit a candle and doused the lights. If Suuzu refused to leave the nest—which seemed likely—then dinner would be the few things he’d grabbed at the convenience store earlier. Good enough.
“See anything?” he asked softly.
“Hmm.”
Akira dragged out their bedding and started arranging. Predictably, Suuzu came along behind him, smoothing and straightening the blankets. Now that it was just them, he was thinking about the previous night’s promise. Curiosity knotted with little doubts. They weren’t second thoughts, exactly. But the timing was terrible.
“It’s kinda chancy, trying anything while Argent and Michael are here.”
Suuzu looked up, all bewilderment.
“The … hatching thing,” he mumbled. “If anything changes, they’d notice.”
Sitting back on his heels, Suuzu faced him across the futon.
Akira waved his hands, babbling on even though there was nothing to say. “Not that I’m expecting anything to change. Michael said it was probably nothing. So I don’t even know what I’m hoping for.”
Confusion was shifting into concern. And here, he was supposed to be calming Suuzu down.
He let his hands fall limp to his sides.
“You are uneasy.” Suuzu had migrated from concerned to distraught. “I make you uneasy?”
Akira shook his head. “Going against the advice of someone I trust kinda does. A little.”
“Forgive me.” Suuzu’s posture shifted into a pose that meantI’m no threat, and he placed his hands behind his back.
“Stop that!” Akira crawled across their bed and grabbed Suuzu’s shoulders. “I’m not afraid of you. I’veneverbeen afraid of you.”
Suuzu warbled unhappily.
“Okay, I’muneasy. What if something happens? What if this hatching thing means stuff has to change?” He lamely finished, “I like how things are.”
Suuzu carefully pulled him close. “I am content.”
After their talk with Kimi, he was beginning to doubt that. He dared to counter, “Are you?”
“Yes. With you, yes.”
And there was the actual problem. Akira was proud and happy that he’d always have Suuzu. A friend for life, but only a human’s lifetime. How would his friend cope when his nestmate died? Akira felt guilty over this one-sided happiness … and the empty nest that must follow.
