An Apology (Kazuma, Teneile)

[Shimizu Kuribayashi]

The past, something Shimizu hated to think about, always came back around and bit him right in the ass. He hated being in the position he was in; to have a father that was in the military, to be number one in your class, and to be targeted for assassination because of your family and school records. It was by far the dumbest thing he could ever have gotten himself into or more like born into. He hated to dwell on it so he tried to have a peaceful walk down the streets and decided to take a rummage through the forest. He wasn’t in his uniform that would give him away or anything, he was in some normal clothes for once. As he walked, he started to run, running slowly and then faster. He didn’t know why he was running at first, noticing later that he was running full throttle, as if being chased. He looked behind and he was in fact being chased. It was an after thought, which was until he saw the persons that were following him in hot pursuit. They wore the emblem of the military, but carried no weapons on any type. Was this some kind of joke or were they really after him? He wasn’t going to find out or at least he hoped until he tripped; a root sticking up from the ground hooked onto his right foot, sending him on a high speed front flip type role onto the ground.

“Shit, this isn’t good. Get up, move…why arent you moving. This isn’t happening, not now.”

He looked at his right ankle, lifting up the pant leg to see it was red and turning blue. A sprain is a runner’s worst nightmare. This would knock you out of any race and if you tried to run on it, you would inevitably break it or strain it even more. Shimizu, at this point, didn’t care. He forced his body up and started to run once more. He had never run like this, going this fast, jumping, ducking, and sliding. With complete disregard for anything, he ran as fast as he could, trying to outrun the people behind him. He looked back every now and then to see that they were still there, his mind hoping that one would trip and the rest would follow suit, but no, they were still there. He tried to run faster, his ankle starting to hurt more and more, telling him that if he didn’t stop he may do permanent damage to his ankle. He didn’t listen and ran ever faster. To him, getting injured was far better than getting caught or killed. He would rather lose a limb than get caught. He would lose anything as long as he was still alive at the end, but at this rate it may not happen.

---------- A Few Minutes Later ----------

He was starting to slow down. He didn’t want to, but his ankle was not going to let him go any further without a small rest. He looked behind him and they were still there, but far enough away that it would be a small while till they reached him. He noticed that they too were slowing. This was good, if they slowed faster than Shimizu, then he could get away. He stopped and let out a few breaths before continuing. He ran and ran branches of all sorts of plants and trees hitting his body, cutting him from head to toe. His shirt and pants didn’t reveal any cuts since they held up pretty well as he ran, until his shirt hit a tree, the branch digging itself into his skin. Shimizu choked on his breath and ripped the branch out, the branch taking his shirt from his body. He was now bleeding, not badly but badly enough that he would sooner or later pass out if it didn’t close. He kept one hand on his chest, not feeling too well where the gash was. He just ran and ran until he came into a clearing. He didn’t see any people or buildings. He just saw open area. He ran into the middle of the clearing and collapsed upon the ground. He landed on his front side and rolled over to his back, placing both hands on the wound. He didn’t want to see it, but he could feel it.

“Oh man, this isn’t good. I hope I lost them or I’m done for. This wound and my ankle will not let me go further.”

He finally looked at the wound and his eyes widened. He didn’t feel as if it were bad, but looking at it told him differently. It wasn’t a gash, but a hole. It looked to be about an inch in diameter, but he didn’t know how deep until placing two fingers into the hole. His fingers sank to the second knuckle before stopping. This was bad, he needed help and fast, but where could he get help. No one was in the area and he didn’t have a phone. He would have to find a place to hide and wait for the people chasing him to give up and leave. He started to move, but the pain from the wound kept him on the ground. He tried to lift his right foot, but he remembered his ankle was toast at this point. He wasn’t going anywhere. What was he going to do? Who was going to help him? Unless God happened to be watching, he was dead meat. He didn’t think after what happened with Kazuma, he would happen to find him and help him. He knew that Teneile wouldn’t help either. Mr. Katsumoto wasn’t anywhere to be found so that was out of the question. He had run out of options. Kazuma would have been his only hope if he hadn’t been so self-centered when he met the two. He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t yell because that would give his position away. He would have to sit and wait for someone to hopefully find him.

“Please lord, if you are really up there in the sky. Please help me. I’m sorry for what I did to Teneile and Kazuma. I didn’t mean to be self-centered. I should have offered my services to them before asking for their help. If you could please forgive me, Ill do anything.”

He was just about to pass out when he heard footsteps. He heard the sound of multiple feet rustling through the grass. Either the men found him or a couple was walking in his direction. He was hoping it was a couple, but soon the feet past him and he was again alone. As he started to doze off he heard more feet accompanied by voices. These voice were that of men. The sounds were feet that were running, but all in different directions. He knew that these feet belonged to the men that were searching for him. He stayed as still as he could, slowing his breathing as not to be very loud. He started to pray and held his hands on the wound that he had. He pressed hard, the location on the wound still not determined. He could feel the blood percolating from under his hands and between his fingers. He thought he was going to die before anyone found him. Was he going to die or by some miracle someone would find him? Before he could have that question answered, he lost control and passed out.

[Teneile]

((holy crap! That's a long post boy!))

Teneile and Kazuma were walking their children. Rocky and Bella. A large.. no huge German shephard and a small little fluffy dog that was completely black, she was tiny and adorable. Kazuma and Teneile had recently gotten home from a trip to New York that carried with it both highs and lows. But it had ended on a good note though Kazuma was watching her more and more. She was pregnant again, and that meant that they were being extra careful and intended not to get into anything that would hurt either of them. They had made a vow, a promise that they would both stay out of trouble and never vear towards it unless it was life and death. Teneile looked up at Kazuma and smiled.

"I"m glad you let us meet your parents, they're wonderful, your mom calls me every day I swear she's counting down the days until we move there." she chuckled with a warm smile as she squeezed his hand gently. She had a family, real parents now, things she never had before, and it was definatly nice. She loved getting a call from her mother in law every day. She always called Teneile right after school let out.

She heard some rustling and up head she watched as it looked like that kid from before, the one that had hurt her feelings, was running from someone. But was.. limping slightly, he was probablyhurt and only doing irreparable damage by running like that. What an idiot. She looked over at Kazuma who was already pissed, she could tell what he was thinking just by looking at his face. 'Why can't we go to the park without drama'. The kid.. Shimi.. Shimiu.. something or other she couldn't remember it right now, but she figured Kazuma knew it. She watched as the kid broke for the woods and then she thought she heard some crashing around and she sighed.

"Come on, I"m not that mean." she said looking up at her husband as she tugged on his hand. He reluctantly followed. When she got to the edge of the woods she handed Kazuma Bella's pink leash and headed down the slope telling him to stay there, she would be right back she merely wanted to check on the kid. Carefully she made her way down the slope before she saw him down there all passed out and bleeding everywhere. She sighed as she knelt down beside him, he was out cold. The wound in his chest was nasty. Teneile sighed.

"Kiddo you owe me a shirt." she said as she pulled her tshirt off over her body. She had on a simple cami/tank top underneath it. Showing her figure a lot more than Kazuma would enjoy when she came back up. It stretched tight over her chest, and her small stomach, that was not yet showing, it was still very toned. The tank top was white, and she used her teeth to rip the tshirt in her hands into shreds. Balling up a small bit she grabbed her water bottle and washed out the wound as best as she could and stuffed the shirt into the wound before she wrapped his chest gently for him.

"Now the sprain. Damn, really did a number on yourself didn't you?" she chuckled as she looked around for a few moments using her red tennis shoes to root around in the leaves to find two sticks that were sturdy. She found a couple about the same length and put his ankle in the proper position before she splinted and wrapped it in the remainder of her tshirt. Well as best as she could she was a small girl there wasn't THAT much fabric. "Sorry you don't get this shirt." she chuckled to herself.

She sighed as she stood up. She may not look it but her legs were strong from her career, and so she hoisted the little Japanese boy onto her back holding him piggyback style so he was firmly up there and began to climb back up the slope to Kazuma, she knew he would probably roll his eyes, but she couldn't leave him down there, he was hurt!

[Kazuma]

They were back in SF and life was actually doing just fine for once. Everything was quite and Kazuma’s past was finally behind him with a bright future in sight. He was even considering getting the tattoo on the back of his neck removed before Teneile gave birth just so that he had no reminders of his darker days before he met the wonderful girl that had changed his life. He walked with his wife and their dogs with a small yet overly satisfied grin o his face .

“Oh believe me she will count every passing day, my father already warned me that she’s secretly trying to convince him to come to our coast and visit us” he smiled “But I sent a few copies of our wedding pictures and a few other things so I thin I’ve stalled her for a while” he smirked. It was weird for him, 3 weeks ago Teneile was the only family he had well Rocky and bella if you counted them as well. But ever since their trip He was neck deep in family matters once more even getting calls from the rest of the Sagara family in japan who he had not seen in years. His adopted family that had once abandoned him were now reaccepting him and life just seemed normal.

It was then Teneile spotted Shimizu and Kazuma let a small grimace cross his lips. He looked like he was in trouble and in Kazuma’s head he figured ‘Fuck It’ and had every intention to keep walking away. So the kid was in a bind big deal. Kazuma had been in his own life and death situations many in which he had no place to run. But it seemed Teneile his large hearted caring companion didn’t have the cold streak in her to just keep walking. Letting out a large sigh he gave into her will though a bit reluctant at first he knew he could not let her do this alone

Teneile traveled down a slop leaving Kazuma with the dogs, she was better at a quick triage then Kazuma, she seemed to know a lot about first aid while Kazuma just seemed to know first aid when he or teneile needed it. It took several minutes but eventually Teneile was making her way back up the slope and Kazuma’s eyes narrowed a bit in frustration. “What the hell” he said noticing her shirt was gone and there was a small amount of blood on her hands.

When she made it to the top kazuma switched the leashes to one hand and then with his single free hand grabbed Shimizu by the waist line of his pants lifting the boy off teneile’s back and then threw the boys limp body over his shoulder. It was not that he thought Teneile was weak, he knew better then any one her strength, but she was pregnant and Kazuma was the stronger among them..

“Well…he looks like hell” Kazuma stated the obvious. “I say we start walking away from here…no one clumsy enough to do this to themselves unless their running in a panic” he looked don at Teneile and then his head turned looking at Shimizu ( Guess the liitle guy really did have people after him) he thought to himself .

[Shimizu Kuribayashi]

A dream, that was how it felt as Shimizu lay on the ground. The footsteps were still far away, but a set of footsteps got closer and closer. If Shimizu was awake he could have gotten himself up and tried to run, but it wasn’t going to happen this time. He couldn’t see what was going on, but he could sort of, sense it. He felt someone wrapping him in what seemed to be a shirt. The hands of a female were the ones giving him first aid. The first thing that came to mind was Teneile. He didn’t mean to hurt her feelings and he tried as hard as he could to wake up, but to no avail.

She had apparently seen Shimizu run into the clearing and try to make a break for the woods, but collapsed. He knew this when her hands lifted from his chest and then he could once again feel them correcting, adjusting, and otherwise making his ankle sit the right way. Shimizu was crying harder than Niagara Falls could drop water over its cliffs. He had so much he wanted to tell those two. He wanted to tell Teneile how sorry he was for treating her like that. He wanted to tell Kazuma that he has the greatest, most caring girl on the planet as a wife.

He wanted to tell them so bad, but he couldn’t, he was still out cold. He cried so hard on the inside that tears would have started to show on his face even though he was out cold. He thought of how he could try to change things and apologize to them. He remembered one thing that she said. It was the pains of lose as if she was trying to get him to see something that happened to her. She talked of her father and losing something. He wanted to figure this out or he though that they would never forgive him. He thought long and hard before his thoughts would tangled.

“I’m moving, but who…Teneile. She’s very strong for someone her size. If you could only hear this, I am sorry for what I did to you. I’m sorry about your baby and what your father did. I wish there was something I could do to make you believe that I’m not a bad person.”

He felt himself being taken away from where he first lay in the field, but felt a stronger force take him and he was then upon someone else’s shoulders….Kazuma. He couldn’t believe it, but it was in fact him. He could feel the aura of this man anywhere. It was tough, strong, but calm and protecting all at the same time. It was something that Shimizu wanted to be now that he had someone to look up to. Its like everything went into a blur after those two showed up. He forgot that he was being chased, he forgot about dying, he forgot about himself and just thought about those two people, Teneile and Kazuma.

He started to relax on the inside and most likely it could be felt on the outside also. His body was tense when he passed out so it was probably a bit weird to carry a somewhat stiff person on your shoulders who wasn’t dead. Shimizu was just about dreaming, when he noticed something, the air. It was crisp just as the field was when he ran through it. The breeze was gentle and kind, not overly blowing the trees side to side, but letting them dance. He then realized that he was starting to come out of his darkness and into the light. He looked down to see the heels of the person who was carrying him.

“K..Kaz…Kazuma…is that really you?”

That was all he could get out before letting out a couple bad coughs and falling back into nothingness. He could feel blood dripping form his dry lips as he tried from the inside to get back out into the air once more. He was determined to make things right no matter what. All he had to do was get himself awake long enough to make an apology. He wanted to do this or he thought he would never be able to make a friend. This wasn’t his military side talking, but a side that he is starting to understand more and more. As Teneile put it, Kazuma looked like a brute, but he had a soft side. This soft side was making its appearance in Shimizu.

“Ten..Teneile? If that….is you…I’m sorry for….for….what I said.” He coughed a bit more, more blood slowly exiting his mouth onto the ground below him. He managed only a couple more words before he was out, but this time for a long time. “I…only want…wanted…to be….accepted…by….y.you.”

[Teneile]

"shut up kid, quite tryin' to talk." she said softly. It was kind but firm.

"Here baby, let me have the kids." she said softly as she took the leashes from Kazuma, Rocky fell back to walk beside her and Bella followed Rocky's lead. Rocky was very protective of her, he probably had known she was pregnant long before she did, but he was very protective of her now and the large German shephard was something not to be trifled with. She took Kazuma's large hand, their walk was over they had to head to the hospital now to get Shimizu looked at the kid was in bad shape, and she didn't know what else to do, he needed help.

They reached the hospital quickly and Teneile hated to do it, but they were going to have to leave the dogs in the car. She rolled the windows down a bit, thankfully it was still cold and they would be alright with the breeze that was out today. They headed inside with Shimizu and he was taken back to be looked at. Though it was a while, and Teneile had to force him to do it, Teneile and Kazuma were there in his room when he would wake, Teneile held securely in Kazuma's arms as she read a magazine.

"What do you think of the name Phaedra, apparently it's greek and means bright." she pursed her lips having an affintiy for odd names, but so did Kazuma so they fit well together. You couldn't read the title, the wy she held the magazine, folded in half, but she was reading it quite avidly.

"Ewww can you imagine naming someone Heaven, no.. just no." she shook her head with a chuckle as Kazuma's hand ran through her hair.

"Awww but what about Hope.. or Grace.. their simple but pretty."

[Kazuma]

Kazuma could not believe this shit even as little shimizu started to come to. He was not a happy person right now and you could easily guess why. He grinned though when Teneile told him to shut up, she was never the one to argue with and that was advice coming from a man how could probably snap the poor girl in half.

As they walked he noticed how rocky seemed to fall back and protect Teneile putting a grin on his face. Rocky had been trained originally to be a guard dog way back when he lived in Varron and ever since Teneile had come into both their lives he had been amazingly protective of her. Though now that she was pregnant again much like the last time one could barely approach her without having him growl until Teneile pet him and told him it was alright. He knew Both Bella and Rocky were going to be the best dogs to have when it came to their children they planned to have.

They took Shimizu to the hospital, it was the best thing they could do not knowing the full extent of the boys injuries. Though while Kazuma wished to leave immediately teneile convinced him through her womanly charms and firm personality that he would either be staying or sleeping on the couch tonight. “Phaedra huh…Its not bad, I can defiantly see myself yelling that as I chase her down the play ground to go home” He chuckled

They were going over baby names for their precious bundle. It was alittle to early to know what the child would be but they knew the childs name would be Ryan if it was a boy so they had to discuss girls name just incase.

“Hope or grace huh…their nice but” Kazuma chuckled “I don’t know I feel like it be better to just use Cherry, or Star…maybe Candi… Then I can shoot myself when shes 17 and working the pole” Teneile punched him in the arm for that comment making him laugh a bit. “I’m sure she’ll have the perfect name though, something we can call out over and over again and never get annoyed by the sound of it”

He looked over at Shimizu “Who do you think did that to him anyway”