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"I like honey, and ginger, and milk... and apples... and good stuff..." Kazuhiko blinked. "Sammiches..."
"That's what I meant!" he snapped at Fir, not because he had wanted more Fir Darrigs, but because he didn't think he was allowing him ANY, especially Fir himself, or Pixy-stix, or Auntie Eara.
For a second, he had been trying to figure out what to do. If they weren't helping, he was tempted to just teleport back to Po-ar, and do it himself.
Eara tried to cheer him up with a smile and stories, but it only did so much.
In fact, for a long portion of the trip, he just stared out the window in silence.
No matter how hard Bright Eyes tried, he could only get to be so enthusiastic.
He wanted his parents home, wanted them happy.
Besides, sometimes, he just didn't feel like talking, especially when things were upsetting him.
Now was one of those times. Now even Fir was being mean to him....
He didn't understand for once, it sorta short circuited him. He already proved he wouldn't let Fir die....
So...
Why would he be worried??
Besides, of anyone, Kazuhiko knew about the war. He had taken it upon himself to protect the Fir Darrigs himself after all, without even being a member.
He just hated being treated like a kid.

Kazuhiko scowled at Fir for this. "If you're so worried just say so!" he kicked the back of the seat. "I can't tell anymore! You can't expect me to know like before!"
"Kazu-kun..."
The boy just kicked the seat again angrily.
"You know I said I'd protect them." he snapped at Fir. "I'm not Rat Prince no more, then... Fine!"
Eara sighed softly. "Kazu-kun." she began to warn gently, "Kaaazuu-kun...."
"Iie!" he shook his head stubbornly. "You don't trust me! FINE!"
He kicked the seat a third time for good measure, crossing his arms and refusing to look at him.
He'd only respond to Bright Eyes now.

But Kazuhiko was crying angrily. "I KNOW! I SAW! You don't understand, you don't care!!!" he shouted, kicking and almost breaking his seat.
He launched the Fir Darrig forward sharply, before opening the door and taking off, bawling.
Eara just glared at Fir for a split second, although she understood his position. "I can understand, Fir... but after Mor... his father.. Kit... " she shook her head angrily, "He's just a kid!" she snapped, sighing before bolting after the child.
But how to catch a teleporting kid who didn't want to be caught??
"You couldn't have expected him to know!" she shouted at the car, grabbing her hair and pacing.
Kazuhiko had climbed up into the highest tree he could find, bawling. "I HATE YOU!" he sobbed, clinging to the branches, "I hate everything...."
He hated being the Hunter... He hated NOT being the Hunter....
He hated death...
He hated people, for hurting him, for hurting his family...
The boy understood Fir perfectly, but for the man he practically idolized to go off on him that harsh....
"Kazu-kun..." Eara called up, starting to climb after him, "Come onnn..."
She wasn't as good as he was, though, and even if she would've came close, he would've teleported again.
"I'm not coming back!" he shouted angrily, breaking a branch and sending it plummeting. Eara barely dodged. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Eara just glanced back at the car, giving Fir the 'You stupid jackass, look what you did...! Now what, huh?!" glare that she rarely gave.
"Great..." she held her head in her hands. "******** great..."

Kazuhiko didn't answer. "I saw everything." he sniffled angrily, eyes meeting hers.
For a little boy's, they were almost painfully intense.
"You didn't hear what he said to me." he shook his head. "He's mean... Just leave. Leave me alone." he cried quietly, throwing the Oreos down at the Jeep.
He didn't want to be mean to her, but he didn't think she understood either. He'd only just met her. How could she know?
"I'm not hungry." he sighed. "It's not my fault I couldn't sense him like normal. I was going to save my Mum.. She's going to die if I don't save her before the end of the week." he confided quietly. "Konton doesn't think I can hear him... but I can... his messages get to me without Aoki..."
He just hugged the branch, sighing deeply. "I don't want to be here." he decided sadly.
The next thing he did on purpose.
He opened a portal and started throwing rocks at their car.
"I had to hide myself from him..." he growled, breaking Eara's window.
The woman was sitting in the parking lot, chain smoking at this point.
She just kept staring at Fir, puff after puff. Once he looked up---ohhhhhhhhhh, flying rock, s**t---he'd realize he wasn't handling the situation right.
Kazuhiko wouldn't give him half a chance the way he just yelled at him. Whether he was frustrated or not, that gave him no reason to flip out on a child who had it as hard as Kazuhiko, especially after he had finally made a new friend.
After a while, she came up to the car, ripped open the door, and dragged Fir out.
"I hate to do this, sir," she muttered with some slight sarcasm, "But if you're going to act like a child by fighting with them, then I'm going to treat you like one. Apologize. He didn't deserve that." her grip tightened on his arm. "That is my sister's son, up there, in that tree, and he ******** adores you you jackass. Cut it out. You're the adult here, I would hope..." she patted his cheek. "Because if you break his little heart, I can't protect you."
Another rock narrowly missed them.
Kazuhiko was pissed.

"Go away." Kazuhiko sniffed. "I don't believe you."
He threw another rock down, sighing as he turned to Bright Eyes. "I'm going to be the next Hunter." he spoke quietly. "Momma's cauldron made me grow bigger... but Great Momma Cerridwen's cauldron has something else that made me remember a lot of things. You're the first friend I've ever had, although while I've gained one person, one day, I'm going to watch you die." he spoke simply. "I will watch you die, and Mum die, and Dad die, and Fir die, and everyone die. Fir doesn't like it, and neither do I, but I will live forever and always be Death. No one likes Death. No one likes me. No one likes my family I don't think either. Everyones always takes them away from me and hurts them... I just don't understand why they can't leave us alone." he sighed. "I just want my parents back... I want them to stop getting... weird... and, and not talking, or every spending time together... Mum's going to leave us one day, if this keeps up. Nothing sits still..."
He wanted stability, something he could rely on.

"Goddamn woman?!! Goddamn MAN!" Eara snapped. "YOU started this. Don't go yelling at me too!.... Kazu-kun, come on down...Please??? Please, Kazu-kun...?"
"NO!" the boy shouted, clinging tighter to the tree. "He hates me! GO AWAY!" he threw another rock. "You said, you said you'd be my friend, and you LIED!" he sniffed. "GO AWAY! You lied to me..."
Eara just passed him her 'rolled cigarette' and sighed deeply. "One step at a time, I guess...." she stared up at the tree. "I give him fifteen minutes. Want to make a bet?"
She was trying to lighten his mood a bit also.

"That's because I'm not the Hunter right now." Kazuhiko snapped at Bright Eyes, although he softened immediately.
He didn't understand why he was being to sharp with her. She didn't try anything to hurt him, she'd only been nice...

Eara glanced to Fir. "Look, kiddo..." she couldn't stop herself from being informal and blunt, "I'm not going to try and kill you. Last thing I need is all the rats turning on me like I did you... but from here on out, Fir, you talk to him nicely unless he's actually done something bad. I hope you're retaining what we're learning here today." she watched Kazuhiko closely, occasionally glancing Fir's way. "You don't punish anyone, kids especially, for no reason."

Kazuhiko was debating Fir's words, but the most that happened was that he started climbing down a few feet---still well out of reach, but he was listening.
"Atta boy Kazu-kun..." Eara smiled warmly. "Come on down here... If you hurry, perhaps I'll share some ginger with you..."
Another foot. The boy was easily bribed if you knew what to offer.
"Your oniisan won't be mean again, I promise. If he is, he's going to know what Momma Badb thinks of cranky old farts, how about that???"
Kazuhiko actually smiled a little at this, watching them closely. "But... buuutt..."
"Is what you're sitting on." Eara winked. "Come on down, Kazu-kun... Do you think your mother or father would be happy about this?"
"Tell him not to hurt the tree, he didn't do anything to Fir either but he's being mean..." he ordered them both, glaring for a moment at Fir. "If he's mean to me again, we won't be friends, ever, ever, EVER again. Kit-Kat was mean enough. If you're gonna act like her and be a b***h over stuff I don't know about, then I'm not coming." he warned.
But he was down before too long, although he was clinging to Eara and looking at her with those intense, piercing eyes.
"I'm not talking until he says sorry and really means it." he added quietly, glaring back at Fir. "He's mean... I didn't do any of this, but he's mean. I should be saving Okaasan and Otousan instead." he huffed, snuggling her and crying a bit.
She glanced to Fir for a moment with a knowing, slightly stern gaze, although she held the boy close. "Ka-zu-hi-ko..." she kissed his hair, walking towards the Jeep. "My little nephew... They'll come back. You know that, right...?"
Kazuhiko thought over this for a while as Eara brushed the broken glass off her seat, even picking up the crushed bag of Oreos he'd thrown. "No." he answered honestly after a while. "Maybe not this time. Demons, Auntie Eara... They're caught by the god of demons..."
He still wouldn't eat, not even the ginger Eara offered him.
Instead, he just crawled into the very, very back, curling up in the storage space with a blanket and turning away.
Eara lit another 'cigarette' and smoked quietly, handing two to Fir. "I would hate to imagine what your kids would act like." she admitted with a half-smile. "Kazuhiko seems a lot like I'd imagine you were as a kid... C'mon, Fir. Just apologize, give him a hug. If his parents die, we're basically all he has..." she reminded gently. "He really, really looks up to you. Go give him a hug, comfort him. You need it yourself anyhow."
She kissed his cheek and ruffled his hair, hopping back in the Jeep. "You both are very scared about what's going to happen next." she whispered. "The same problems, worrying over people... You probably yelled at him because in a way, you were really yelling at yourself." she decided, thinking quietly as smoke snaked from her lips and nostrils. "Just... remember, he's not as old as we sometimes think he is. He's just a kid. I know neither of you like being scared...but... this will all turn out alright, Fir. You have a lot to be proud about... ******** the Korreds. They'll see in their own time that you're worth something, and if they don't? ********. They're not anything to be afraid of. You're the Rat King after all."
When she wasn't pissed, Eara had a very soothing way of calming the waters, to the point their surface was like a mirror. She could reflect anything hidden beneath with what was apparent on the surface, a sort of double-image.... thank goodness there was part of her that was more merciful and compassionate than a b***h.
It wasn't hard to tell why she was in Julius' team, but the news that Kazuhiko had given her had done the job well enough.
How could she be angry and mean, hearing something as depressing as that??
Kazuhiko practically counted himself an orphan already.

Kazuhiko watched him for a while before climbing up into the front and giving him a long hug. "I forgive you." he whispered, sighing softly. "I just didn't know..."
He nuzzled him, sighing a little bit. "I don't like fighting with you Oniisan, not at all..."
Eara smiled, but poked Fir's side. "Someone's gotta see all your illusions and bullshit." she teased back, ruffling Kazuhiko's hair. "Now what are you doing?? Why don't you go play with your new friend? I promise everything's gonna be fine, kiddo. I'll come up and help... No one messes with Badb's sister, huh?"
"Nuh-uh!" he grunted and grinned, leaning towards her eagerly. "No one!"
"Not anyone?"
"Not anyone!" he agreed with an enthusiastic nod.
Eara smiled at this. "Later today, I'm going to teach you how to use some of that power of yours wisely... There is a battle god I think you should meet."
"Gwydion!" Kazuhiko's eyes widened. "But what about Cernunnos?!! Can I invoke him instead???"
"Neither." Eara grinned. "We're going to get the twins. We're going to teach you and Thom how to invoke Lugh."
Kazuhiko scampered into the backseat, giggling as he peeked at Bright Eyes in the trunk. "I'll be the pirate!" he declared. "You gotta walk the plank!"

"Bob?" Eara tilted her head. "Oh! Badb!" she giggled. "Yes, you may watch the invoking, sweetheart, but I would suggest trying to invoke a Goddess instead. Besides, the twins are young, and I'm an old hag." she closed one eye, her smile a bit bittersweet, "They certainly have that bit of something about them."
"That's because Lugh and Danu like them." Kazuhiko answered as if it should've been obvious. "And I'll fly after you!"
In fact, he was floating in the car now, beaming. "Who's Peter Pan?"
The boy was sorta a more grown up, morbid Peter Pan himself....
But he hadn't exactly had the right circumstances to have a Never-Never land....
Well, there WAS the Otherworld....
Eara tilted her head at this, watching Kazuhiko closely.
If his nickname hadn't been Rat Prince, Peter Pan would've been perfect.
Who would be his Captain Hook? The demon-god?
She took a drag of her rolled cig, thinking deeply.
It was sorta uncanny, really.