Vegetable Soup

Vegetable Soup

By

Kanata Saionji

It was a clear Sunday morning and the inhabitants of the Saionji Temple sat down eating breakfast when one particular brunette among them screeched after drinking the soup.

'Wow, Wanya!' he shouted, 'you do it exactly like her!'

'Stop shouting Kanata!' exclaimed a blonde while she herself made a huge racket in saying this by spilling the sauce.

'Daa!' exclaimed a gorgeous blonde haired baby eating out of Miyu's spoon.

'Thank you,' replied the cat-lie sitter-pet, who doesn't need any introduction just like everybody in the room, 'but what do you mean by "her"?'

What the hay, I'll introduce them to you even though you might have heard this a million times. The blonde girl is Miyu Kouzuki, the daughter of Mr. Yuu Kouzuki, the famous NASA scientist and researcher and Mrs. Mike Kouzuki, the amazing NASA astronaut.

Since they took off to America to work for NASA on a project, Miyu was sent to live with her parents' friend, Mr. Hosho Saionji. Miyu, full of despair and regret that she let them leave just like that, reached Heiomachi believing her mother's words that Mr. Saionji's home was near to a mansion.

Boy was she shocked when she reached "Saionji". It turned out to be the worst of her nightmares, except that it was real. The Saionji's place was actually a rickety old temple and if that isn't bad, Miyu saw the brunette, who just exclaimed back there, not in the hall, not in the living room, not even the kitchen, but in the bathroom—when she was taking a bath. He was Hosho Saionji's only living heir, Kanata Saionji.

Now, we haven't reached the finale of Miyu's first day at the Saionji Temple. During dinner, just like her parents, Hosho left the Temple with the two teenagers to take on a spiritual trip to the country where Buddhism was born, India.

Just when she got to her limit and tried to leave the Temple, an alien baby, name Ruu and his pet-sitter a cat like animal, Wanya or Bawmiaw (who could transform himself into anything and anyone) arrived from planet Otto to the Saionji Temple by accident, through a time-worm-dimension-hole-thing which got them way away from their planet which was more than a thousand light years away from Planet Earth. After sending a radio signal to their planet, Miyu and Kanata thought it safe to keep the baby and its sitter-pet in the Temple should they wander off and get themselves dissected. So, they also decided not to let the secret out.

So that's about all I've got for introduction—now for the present episode. Where were we again? Oh! Yeah…

'Who do you mean Kanata?' asked Miyu.

'Daa!' exclaimed Ruu.

'Well…,' said Kanata taking a sip of the soup while throwing a side glance at the blonde, emerald eyed girl, 'its Akira'.

'Who?' asked Wanya searching his memories.

Miyu at once placed her bowl of soup down gently and took over her rice bowl with a lost look in her eyes.

'Akira,' repeated Kanata in a lower tone, 'you know my childhood friend who went to America…'

'Yeah, of course!' exclaimed Wanya by slamming his hands together.

'When she was around she usually made vegetable soup,' he said looking down at his soup with an odd look which Miyu noticed sadly, 'she made it exactly right, like you Wanya!'

'You're making me blush,' said Wanya turning a slight shade of magenta.

Kanata burst out laughing and Ruu and Wanya joined in too within seconds. Miyu was too preoccupied to start laughing which all three noticed at once—as she was always the first to start laughing her heart out.

'What is it Miss Miyu,' asked Wanya with a troubled voice, 'are you feeling ok?'

'Huh?' asked Miyu looking up at the three.

'Mama?' called Ruu with a sad face tugging her skirt.

'I'm fine…' she assured, 'what makes you think I'm not?'

'The fact that you always start laughing your heads out,' started Kanata with an eye closed, 'and that your not now gets us thinking… Is Miyu actually learning to be a lady at last?'

He said the last in such a mocking voice that Miyu became furious instantaneously.

'Why you little—' she started and chased him all around the hall, 'I'm going to get you Kanata Saionji!'

'Not if I can help it!' he yelped as he ran around laughing.

Ruu joined the fun at once followed closely by a smiling Wanya. They had quite the fun till it was time to clean up and bed.

But from that night on, the kitchen was always haunted by a blonde emerald eyed girl who always crept into it at around twelve and left at two in the morning, tired and worn out. She thought that nobody noticed her but Kanata is not to be considered lightly after all.

Monday Night, 00.30

Kanata woke so suddenly in the dead of the night that he thought he must have had a nightmare. But a sound from outside his room explained otherwise. It was the clattering of dishes. So he realized that it must be coming from the kitchen. He wondered for a second whether it was a burglar but as the Temple had such a lengthy staircase that he knew the burglar would surely get tired of just getting up here.

He thought maybe it was just Wanya or Miyu up for a midnight snack. Suddenly he felt very thirst. So, he decided to join whoever it was in the kitchen for some water. As he reached the lit kitchen door, he heard a voice.

'C'mon,' a girl said and Kanata recognized it at once as Miyu's, 'please be good this time!'

'Miyu?' Kanata gaped as he opened the door slightly to see the blonde working over the stove, over which some thing was smoking.

'Oh, no!' wailed Miyu as she pulled it out and put it into the sink, 'not another failure!'

Kanata smirked. She was actually trying to cook in the dead of the night.

But he decided not to interfere in her "magnum opus"—whatever she was creating in that kitchen of his. He also made sure that he didn't let her alone. He always woke kept an eye on here all through the night until she gave up trying and went to sleep. This continued for a whole week.

Friday, School

'Miyu, Miyu wake up!' whispered Nanami to her sleeping friend.

'Ugh?' mumbled Miyu and going further into sleep.

'Miyu!' shouted Nanami.

'What! I didn't do it!' shouted Miyu as she woke up frantically.

'You didn't do what?' asked Aya smirking.

'It's you two!' Miyu sighed and wiped her eyes.

'Why are you sleeping in class?' asked Nanami.

'Is it over?' asked Miyu.

'All our classes for the day are over!' said Aya.

'What?' wailed Miyu standing up fast, 'I missed everything? Why didn't you wake me?'

'Cause Kanata said that you weren't feeling very well to the teacher and she let you off for the day…' explained Nanami, 'we tried waking you up to take you to the nurse, but you wouldn't budge…'

'So, are you feeling ok, Miyu?' asked Aya concerned.

'I'm fine…' assured Miyu smiling.

'Ok, how about going to this awesome second-hand store by the Railway station?' asked Nanami at once.

'Can't,' said Miyu, 'I got shopping to do… we ran out of everything in the house… it's my turn to shop…'

'It's ok,' said Aya smiling, 'we'll go with you and we'll go to the shop after you finished your purchases…'

'Yeah,' said Nanami, 'and we could help you carry your bags!'

'A owe you guys a lot!' said Miyu smiling.

Saturday, 7pm

Kanata was busy working on his homework when he heard a knock on his door and a voice.

'Kanata, you in here?' asked Miyu from the other side.

'Yeah… c'mon in…' he replied bending over his work on his small study table.

Miyu opened the door. Kanata didn't bother looking up until she placed a steaming hot bowl of soup on his work.

'Miyu, you nuts?' exclaimed Kanata at once, 'you're going to ruin my work!'

'Taste it,' she ordered shoving him a spoon.

'I'm not hungry…' he replied with a smile he tried his best to hide, 'can't it wait until dinner?'

'No!' she replied at once, 'Taste it now!'

Kanata slowly lifted the bowl, took away his work papers and placed it safely from harm's way into his table drawer. He placed the bowl back on the table.

'Eat it,' said Miyu and sat down beside him, expectantly.

'Are you sure you haven't poisoned it?' asked Kanata with a sarcastic serious look.

'Ha ha very funny Saionji,' said Miyu, 'eat it before it gets cold'.

'You'd better taste it,' said Kanata, grinning and gave her the spoon and bowl.

Miyu gave him a very cold look and took a sip out of the bowl with the spoon.

'Fine?' asked Miyu coldly, 'will you taste it now or should I have it send it to the National Research center for any possible poisons?'

Kanata smirked and pulled the spoon and the bowl out of her hands and was about to eat out the spoon when Miyu started to stutter.

'Kanata—' she started, 'but—uh—that—you—'

Kanata smiled and poured all the contents of the spoon back into the bowl and took a sip directly out of the bowl, making Miyu blush.

It's as though he read my mind, was the thought that passed through Miyu's head at once.

Kanata, after emptying the bowl with one sip, looked into it with a look of pure shock.

'Is it bad?' asked Miyu tenderly but in her mind hundred questions were already flaring up, 'How could it be bad? I thought it was good… I worked for nearly a week without sleep… now he's going to say it's bad and poisonous, just like always… oh no!'

As he didn't answer, Miyu called his name again, 'Kanata?'

He looked at her with a smile and said directly into her eyes, 'it's delicious…'

Miyu's felt relief pass through her entire body as she heard those two words—the two words for which she had sacrificed hours of sleep.

'Delicious soup Miss Miyu,' came Wanya into Kanata room with Ruu flying behind him, 'I say it's better than even mine…'

Miyu smiled and stood up. She made for the bowl in Kanata's hands but he said with a small smile, 'I'll bring it back…'

'Daa!' exclaimed Ruu.

'Did you like my soup Ruu?' asked Miyu to the baby whose reply was the same, 'Daa!'

Miyu smiled at the boy in her arms and left back to the kitchen with, 'dinner in ten minutes Bawmiaw?'

'Of course Ms. Miyu,' came the reply and Wanya left with her leaving Kanata with his own thoughts.

He slowly got up with the bowl and the spoon. But he suddenly stopped. He placed the spoon into his drawer gently and left his room closing the door behind him.

'So, what's for dinner?' he asked smiling.

It was nearly midnight. Kanata was unable to sleep so he opened his door and looked out of his room at that shimmering white moon when he saw somebody on the other side. It was Miyu.

He walked over to her and sat down beside her, going, 'can't get to sleep?'

She nodded and asked, 'you too?'

'Yeah…' he replied in a low tone.

After a few minutes he asked, 'why not? Why can't you get to sleep?'

'Don't know…' was her meek reply, 'you?'

'You…' he said.

'What…?' asked Miyu as it made no sense.

'I can't sleep because, you can't…' he said blushing slightly.

'I don't get—' she started but he cut across.

'You can't tell me you made that soup that good in a day…' he said, 'you were up all week trying it out, weren't you?'

'How—how did you know?' she stammered, going a bright shade of maroon.

'as I said… since you were accustomed to waking up at midnight all week, you can't go to sleep,' he explained, 'similarly, as I was accustomed to waking up at the same time to keep an eye on you, I can't sleep'.

He said all this really fast that it took Miyu nearly a minute to realize the true meaning.

'To keep an eye on me?' asked Miyu.

He nodded with a red patch on his cheeks which was also borne by the blonde.

'So, why go to all this trouble?' he asked after a while.

'Cause you said that Akira made the best soup…' she said blushing even harder, 'I wanted to—'

But what came next nobody knew as at that time, Kanata burst out laughing. Miyu got infuriated.

'Why are you laughing?'

'Cause, you don't have to do all this to get better that Akira,' he said, 'you are different and so is Akira… you cannot compare to her… nor can she to you…'

At this he got up and turned to move when he heard her speak again.

'I wanted you to tell when she makes you the soup again that Miyu makes the best soup…' she said blushing.

Kanata didn't turn but he stopped in his tracks. After a second he spoke, making Miyu even redder.

'If you want, I will…' he said, 'but Miyu, you don't have to do all this to be perfect… you already are perfect'.

With that he ran back to his room, his eyes hidden behind his brunette hair which helped him to hide that fact that he was blushing harder that she did at that time.

Miyu smiled at his last words, 'you already are perfect'.

How was that guys? I hope it was worth your time… Please Review….