Kaoru's niece

CHAPTER 12

"Uncle Kaoru/Kaoru!"

"Come on man, get up!" Joe says to Kaoru, the worry evident in his voice. All you can do is stand there. You look down at your uncle and then look at Adam when he starts speaking.

"You know, I really thought this would be more fun." Adam said, sounding bored. "But that little race against Cherry turned out to be a bomb."

You step closer to Adam, in a protective stance in front of your uncle. "Seriously? You son of a bitch."
Shadow comes driving up and shouts, "Get in! We gotta jet to the hospital!"
Joe then picks up Cherry bridal style and takes him to the car. Adam steps closer reaching out to touch you.

"Don't. You. Dare touch her." Joe says without even turning around.

You quickly move away and go to the car. "Bye my flower, I'll be seeing you soon..." Adam says to you as you feel his stare right on you. Kaoru was in for surgery and all you could do was wait. You couldn't even talk to anyone properly. Reki was nowhere to be found and Langa was worried about Reki and Miya well...He was Miya, he didn't like to talk about this type of stuff.

A few weeks later Kaoru was then able to move around more with the assistance of a wheelchair. 

"I don't know anymore Kojiro...I thought I had a handle on the whole "living with a teenager" thing." Kaoru says as he stiffly sits down next to Kojiro on the couch. Kojiro looks at him with a sympathetic look and then sighs, moving more to the side so that he can see Kaoru more clearly. He pauses the show on the tv. "Look Kaoru, I'm just going to say this...You can't compare your situation to any other normal family situation." He places his arm on the back of the couch. "Because have you seen your family situation, it's not even close to being called easy." His arm then moves to embrace the very quiet Kaoru.

"Hell I mean, you've adopted your niece and had to take care of her, all while having her avoid the public eye." Kaoru scoffs at this in agreement.

"Yeah well she hasn't made it easy." Kaoru says as he looks at Kojiro.
"And you have?"

Kaoru remains silent.

"Ru, just try and hear her out. With Adam being back it can't be easy. And plus, she doesn't have any friends to go see since Reki and Langa are busy with their own drama. She's probably sitting on the track where she got injured. Why don't you go and talk to her. Without getting upset. Just listen to her."

"Okay." Kaoru says quietly as he takes all this information in. Kojiro then gets up and then turns to face Kaoru again. "I'm going to start preparing food for dinner, you better be back in time. Or I'll fight your skinny ass. Even if you are in a wheelchair." And with that he bends down and places a kiss on Kaoru's forehead.

.....

"I'm guessing Koji told you i was here..?" You say as your uncle comes up next to you in his fancy ass wheelchair.

"Yeah he did." Then there was a quiet between the two of you.

"You know I heard an argument between Reki and Langa this evening...It involved me. Reki compares himself to me and Langa all the time. He thinks I'm this fantastic person who's so happy all the time." You throw a small stone off the cliff's edge. "But I'm really not...I'm really struggling. Especially with Adam being back."

Your uncle just sits and listens. You glance at him. "I'm scared. Scared that I'm going to land in the same place I was when the accident happened..."

Kaoru speaks up this time, "Well, it will be different this time. Because this time I am actually going to be there to help you."

You were a bit taken aback.

You faced the cliff's edge again. There was silence again, only the summer breeze was heard.

"When Adam took me..." You pause trying to control yourself. "He forced me to skate against him again." You heard your uncle take a sharp breath in. "That's were all the bruises came from. I fell again. Right here."

"Oh Asami.."

"Is he ever going to stop.?" You ask, the fear and sadness clear in your voice.

"I know for a fact that your friends, the ones that I know care for you dearly, they will finally put an end to this."

You give your uncle a sad look.

"Are you ever angry with me?" Your uncle asks quietly.

"I have been a few times." You say.

"Can you tell me the reasons for it?"

"Well, when you cared more about Miya and Langa then me. Or when you compared me to my mom. Or when you basically abandoned me." You say and then look at him.

He stays quiet as he takes it all in.

"I know I can't make up for everything I have done. But I am sorry. And i know it's just a start but I would like to try and make it up to you from now on."

You look at him and then smile. You stand up and give him a hug.

"Come one let's go. Mister Koji won't be happy if we miss dinner."

You start making your way back down the track to get home. "You nudge your uncle's shoulder slightly, "But don't be getting all soft on me now Kaoru. Leave that for muscle man at home." You say with a cheeky smile and laugh as your uncle just rolls his eyes.

It's not much. But it's a start. And as long as you had your family, and friends, ones that you needed to talk to again and bring back together. You were sure you could make it through this hell.