Ojos Asi [[private -- nyrax]]

Akiko smiled at him, seeing pleased with his response. "You're not at all like my brother." With a small laugh, she slid out of his arms and ran out of the room into another one. Making it into the kitchen, she couldn't help but laugh hearing him follow her. "You know you can't catch me!" She taunted, her back hitting one of the counters.

Kiba once again smiled, enjoying the fact that Akiko couldn’t see a single connection between him and Youki. It just made Kiba feel like a better person for whatever reason. He quickly made his way after Akiko, knowing that she was much faster than him when she wanted to be. “Maybe not, but you always come back to my arms anyways”, he smiled as he slid into the kitchen. “Why would I have to catch you when I don’t want you to leave?”, he pointed out with a sincere smile.

Akiko turned to face him. "Then I won't come back to you!" Her voice was full of a teasing tone. Smiling at him at the male in front of her, she opened the fridge and started to take things out of it. "Oh! Strawberries and blueberries!" Taking out the fruit, she looked around, getting buttermilk and butter from the fridge. "I'll make you the best breakfast ever!" Grabbing a carton of eggs, she put it on the counter and climbed up onto the marble counter to reach into one of the cabinets and grab a box of pancake batter. Grabbing a whisk and a bowl, she started to mix the ingredients, heating a skillet, and started to cut up strawberries.

Kiba just stuck out his tongue and shook his head with a joking face, to show that he got that Akiko wasn’t serious. He moved over to the table and took a seat, knowing that Akiko normally preferred to do it by herself. He watched as she got a ton of the food that he had in the fridge and claimed that she was going to make the best breakfast ever. Now that definitely sounded like it was going to have potential. He glanced over towards her. “Need help with anything?”, he asked. “I could help if you want”, he offered.

Akiko turned to look at him. Her hair swished almost wildly around her. "No, I don't need any help, but if you want to be around me, I'm ok with that. Come here." She said, moving her fingers in a 'come here' motion. Smiling at him, she leaned closer to him, her legs were still exposed, but her thighs were partially covered by the button down shirt that was two sizes too big for the small girl. "I promise that it will be good!" She told him, taking the bacon, putting it on a baking sheet with tin foil and put it in the oven, turning the timer on for 8 minutes. Pouring some batter onto the skillet, she made three almost equally sized circles.

Kiba smiled as she said that she didn’t need any help but if he wanted to be near that was okay. That made him happy. He got up and slowly moved next to the girl as she continued the baking that reminded Kiba why food was always so good when she was around. She was a goddess at baking after all. He watched as she continued to use her hands to take precise care of everything. She had steps that she always followed and did it perfectly. “Looks amazing so far”, he admitted as he moved a little closer to the girl.

Akiko looked up at Kiba when he made his way over. The smile still remained on her face. "You like my cooking, right?" She asked. It seemed that she liked when he complimented her. She'd previously admitted that she was never really complimented for anything she'd done. It was expected of her to do what she was told and be good at it. "So, umm... Kiba-kun... I've.. been meaning to ask you." She whispered, looking down at what she was doing. "Do you like Youki?"

“The fact that I eat five helpings didn’t give you an idea of how much I like it?”, Kiba asked jokingly as he stayed close to Akiko as she getting close to done, or at least closer. The smell of the food made its way up into Kiba’s nostrils, filling them with a delicious aroma. Kiba quickly blinked as Akiko suddenly asked if Kiba liked Youki. Kiba said nothing for a minute, unsure of how to answer. “Don’t’ know, never met the guy”, he lied.

Akiko sighed. "You're lying..." She whispered. "Please... just be honest with me ok? Everyone thinks things about people before they know them. I'm not stupid. Just let me know what you think about him." Looking up at the male, she smiled at him. "I get the feeling you don't like my brother... and I get the feeling that he doesn't like you from how upset he was."

Kiba turned away as Akiko could tell that he was lying. God he had a horrible poker face, was it this obvious to everyone or just her? “I’m sorry”, he said softly as she asked him to be honest. “I haven’t heard many good things about him, and some of the things that I’ve seen him do aren’t very pretty”, he said before looking right at Akiko. “I hate the way he treats you, you don’t deserve that”

Akiko looked up at him. "What do you mean? How does he treat me?" She asked, flipping the pancakes over. "He doesn't treat me any differently than he treats my other sisters..." She hoped up to sit on the counter, facing him. "I love you, he'll understand that right?" She tilted her head to the side. "I mean... he doesn't think that I'm smart enough to pick who I want to marry, but he can't stop me because he said that no one else will have me because of what we did. That they'll think I'm a slut..."

Kiba looked down at Akiko as she said that Youki treated her just the same as her other sisters. That definitely wasn’t right in Kiba’s book. “Akiko, he doesn’t have the right to be so controlling of you even if he is your brother”, he said seriously. “You have the right to become whatever type of person you want to be, and you can choose to love and marry whoever you want”, he said with a small smile. “Everyone has that choice……everyone”, he repeated as he touched Akiko’s face softly. “And he hits you”

Akiko bit her lip. "But he's like my father! He takes care of me... and..." Looking down at her legs, she closed her eyes tightly before clenching her hands into fists. "I do have a choice, I love him and I like to help him... He cares about me.. and..." It almost seemed like she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince him. "He's n-never hit me.. be-before I stopped listening to him. I was bad, and I ran away and I didn't listen to him." She whispered, looking up at him, her eyes starting to get teary.

Kiba said nothing as he could tell that Akiko was on the verge of losing it. She loved Youki so much, but who did she care about more? Someone she had known all her life? Or someone that she had grown very close to in a short amount of time. Only she knew, and it might make all the decision in this upcoming fight with Youki. Seeing the tears Kiba knew that this conversation needed to end now. “Let’s not talk about it Akiko”, he said simply as he glanced down at her. “Come on now….don’t cry”, he said softly. That was it though. This couldn’t happen. Kiba was going to have to go and talk to Aaliyah. He couldn’t just stand by anymore.

Akiko looked up at him and smiled up at him. It was weak, but it was still a smile. Her eyes closed, and a single line of tears spilled from each eye, sliding down her face. Sliding off the counter, she went back to cooking, making a large stack of pancakes, showing she made enough for the two of them as well as Shino and Aaliyah whenever they decided to get up. Taking the bacon out of the oven, she put it on a plate with paper towels to drain the grease. "Want some?" She asked, offering him a piece. It seemed that she listened to him enough to forget what they had discussed. Cracking some eggs, they started to fry on the skillet. "How many eggs do you want?" She asked, turning to face him.

Aaliyah's head was still hidden in Shino's chest. "Ugh..." She muttered. "I'm exhausted." Shifting her weight, she smelled food. "I have the feeling that Akiko is awake..." She whispered into Shino's ear. "She's a really good cook, I've been teaching her. You hungry?"

Kiba could only barely return the smile as he saw the tears trail down from Akiko’s face. It was a saddening site, and Kiba could only barely endure through it. By the end, how many tears would he be responsible for? And was it something that Akiko could ever forgive him for? “Yeah, I’d love some definitely”, he said with a smile as he grabbed the piece and took a bite of it. Meat, always tasty in Kiba’s mouth. Today though, it was just missing that extra bit. His heart wasn’t into the food. “I think I’ll take two, with the pancakes and bacon I think I’ll be good”, he said with a laugh. That and Kiba wasn’t sure how many eggs he had left anyways to use.

“After that I’m not really surprised”, Shino said with a smile of content as his eyes remained closed and his hands softly touching Aaliyah’s body. He heard her mention that Akiko was awake and probably cooking. “A little, I’m not a huge meat fan but I’m sure that she’ll have something there”, he remarked with a yawn before slowly opening his eyes and looking softly at Aaliyah. “Morning love”

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