Aberrance

Hey everybody! This is a short chapter, in fact I think it's the shortest one I've written so far. A couple of key things happen and I didn't want to overwhelm anyone with putting too much into one chapter so here it is. The asterisks mark a change in perspective. Only a few more chapters to go guys! Hope you enjoy!

Kyo blinked and attempted to shield his eyes from the glaring sunlight that filtered through the window. He sat up slowly and groaned as his stiff muscles protested the movement. He looked around the room, puzzled as to why he awoke in the living room and not in his bed. His eyes swept down to his hand, where he was still clutching his cell phone, and everything suddenly fell into place. Jae called him last night, or at least he thought she did. It's possible that he had dreamt that so he checked his voicemail to make sure. His face contorted into a grimace as he listened to her message. He sighed and rubbed his face as he flipped his phone shut. He had so much to think about, namely how to set things right. He took a quick shower and left the apartment to take a walk and hopefully figure out what he needed to do.

*******************************************

Toshiya knocked on Kyo's door and thought about what he hoped to accomplish during his visit. Shinya made quite a bit of progress when he was here, but in his opinion, the young man was far too patient. In certain situations that wasn't a bad thing but in this case it was. Even though Kyo expressed to Shinya that he wanted to fix things and have a relationship with his family, in all honesty, up to this point his actions belied his words. Toshiya glanced at his watch and frowned at the door. He purposely scheduled his visit with Kyo in the afternoon so as not to disturb his sleep. He knocked again and waited. Growing impatient, he tried the door and found it unlocked. Stepping inside, he glanced around and starting moving about the apartment looking for Kyo. He heard a voice coming from the back bedroom and headed in that direction. He saw Hitomi talking on the phone but her back was to him so she didn't notice him standing behind her. He turned to leave, as Kyo obviously wasn't home, when something she said stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Yeah, but I need to do something before he becomes suspicious. I figure my only options are to really get pregnant or wait a while and tell him I lost the baby." Toshiya turned back around slowly and stared wide-eyed at Hitomi's back. "The first option isn't looking very promising. Kyo is so hesitant to have sex with me because he doesn't want to hurt the baby. Besides, I don't really want to get pregnant. I'll get fat; not to mention those ugly stretch marks. No...I think I'll definitely have to tell him I lost the baby. I'm hoping that I can convince him that we should get engaged before I have to do that though."

Toshiya's eyes narrowed into slits and if looks could kill, Hitomi would be dead a hundred times over. He spun on his heel and quietly stalked out of the apartment. Time to talk to Kaoru. A malicious smile appeared on his face. Payback is a bitch.

*********************************************

Kyo meandered through the less populated streets of Tokyo lost in his thoughts. The torment that was apparent in Jae's voice was plaguing him. He replayed her message in his head, recalling every choked sob and trembled word with a stab of guilt. It killed him that she was placing so much of the blame on herself when it was his burden to bear. He was the one who abandoned her, basically giving her no choice but to not tell him about their son. Knowing that she had tried to contact him numerous times during their separation but still felt she was somehow at fault for him not knowing about Tristan was eating away at him. He wished like hell he could go back and do things over. Their lives would be so different. They would be married and Tristan would probably have a little brother or sister, maybe more than one. Kyo smiled at the thought of he and Jae having more children. He wanted to marry her more than anything. He let out a sigh and shook his head. Even if she would have him he couldn't marry her because of Hitomi. They hadn't discussed it at the time, but he knew Jae was vexed about him having a child with another woman. Of course, he completely understood and sympathized. He was going to be around to help Hitomi raise their child, whereas Jae was forced to do it alone. He loved her so much, yet all he seemed capable of was hurting her. All that would end today. He wasn't running, not anymore.

**********************************************

Toshiya flew through the front door, almost knocking Jae over in the process. He caught her easily. "Jae! Have you seen Kao?" he asked excitedly, his eyes doing nothing to hide his agitation.

"Yeah, I think he's upstairs. Totchi, is everything okay? Nothing is wrong with Kyo right?"

He noticed her start to fret and quickly composed himself. "No no, Kyo is fine. Everything is going to be alright." He hugged her to himself and kissed her cheek before heading upstairs to look for Kaoru.

Kaoru was coming out of the bedroom he and Jae shared when he saw Toshiya barrelling up the stairs towards him.

"Kao! We need to talk, now!" The younger man glanced around quickly before grabbing Kaoru's arm, dragging him into the bedroom, and shutting the door behind them. Toshiya whirled around with a gleam in his eyes. "He's free Kao! He's finally free!" he exclaimed.

Kaoru shot him a stern look and walked over to him, pushing him to sit on the bed. "Start at the beginning and try to keep your voice down" he said calmly before taking a seat next to him.

Toshiya took a deep breath. "Well I went over to Kyo's and knocked on the door a couple times but no one answered so I let myself in." He paused long enough for Kaoru to fix him with a disapproving look but the young man waved his hand dismissively. "You'll be thanking my lack of manners after you've heard the whole story" he said with a smirk. "Anyway, I heard a voice towards the back of the apartment so I headed in that direction, figuring Kyo must not have heard me knocking. I'm standing in the hallway and I see Hitomi's back and she turns a little and I notice she's talking on the phone. By this time, I'd figured out Kyo wasn't home so I turned to leave when she said something that made me stop." Toshiya's face hardened and he balled his hands into fists. "She's lying to him Kao! She's not pregnant and she doesn't want to become pregnant anytime soon. After she's convinced him to marry her she's going to tell him she lost the baby." He watched as Kaoru clenched and unclenched his jaw as his rage built up inside of him.

"We have to talk to Kyo and we have to do it soon." His voice was even and calm but
Toshiya knew that under the surface the older man was boiling with anger.

"What about the others? Should we tell them?"

"No! Don't breathe a word about this to anyone. You and I are going to talk to Kyo. Do you think you can keep everyone entertained while I decide what the hell we're going to do?"

The younger man nodded and got up, heading for the door. With his hand on the knob, he turned to look at his friend who had already closed in on himself and was lost in thought. Don't worry Kaoru, I know you'll say the right thing, you always do. Toshiya exited quietly, the door shutting behind him with a soft click. He leaned against the banister watching everyone in the den talking and laughing amongst each other. Soon Kyo would be here too and the partial family that resided here would be whole. With that notion in mind, he made his way downstairs to join his friends.