I needed a change from the drama of Storms. This is what I've been working on while I haven't been writing chapter four.
Hope you enjoy!
"No. No, absolutely not."
"Please… just for now, just this once, and then no more, I promise."
"I've given you my final word. You should know that I'm not likely to change my mind. The answer is no, and it will remain no."
"Yes, but…"
Saitou Hajime took a deep breath and allowed it to come slowly out through his nose, making a sound that was somewhere between amused and exasperated. Sighing. That was a new one for him. But, wives can drive their husbands to such extremes.
"Tokio, no. Now, go and tell them that they are absolutely not coming near my house."
"Oh, but Hajime… They look so-"
Met once again with an unwavering frown, Saitou Tokio lowered her gaze demurely and turned towards her front room with a hushed "Yes, Hajime."
So they would go hungry once more. The poor things. She wished desperately there was something, anything that she could do, but her husband was set against it, and she knew that it was a useless effort to try changing his mind. No, Saitou Hajime was not a man who would bend easily, and he seemed to be quite immune to all her various methods of persuasion. Still, she understood his wish to not have stragglers constantly coming to the house in search of a meal.
She supposed that he had to deal with that enough at the police station. She never knew what he got up to there; he never shared any details of his day with her. She would simply greet him at the door every night with a soft "welcome home" and take his jacket and gloves. Over dinner, she would ask how his day was, and he would either answer that it was good or bad. Never anything more, but she didn't mind.
She wasn't too concerned with details, after all. He could keep his secrets.
She kept hers.
Making her way to the front porch, she stumbled over a pile of children's toys in the living room. Oh Tatsuo. Never picking up your mess, she thought as she bent to pick them up. When she had them all bundled in her arms, she turned and took slow, deliberate steps towards her youngest son's room.
"Tokio," Hajime called from the kitchen. "Stop stalling."
With a small sigh, Tokio relayed how she had tripped on the toys on her way, and was only returning them to their rightful place. Though she could not see him, she was sure that Hajime was rolling his eyes.
After putting the playthings up, and kissing the little boy's cheek, she decided that she would check on the others. She crept along to Tsutomu's and Tsuyoshi's room, peeking in on her two elder sons sleeping soundly, Tsuyoshi with his covers thrown almost completely off. She smiled and pulled the blankets back around him, and kissed both boys softly on their foreheads.
Next she went to Eiji's room, taking care to tiptoe as quietly as she could. The boy was a frightfully light sleeper, and was still plagued with nightmares from his childhood, even though he was now nearing his sixteenth birthday.
In the past six years, she had grown as fond of the boy as she was of her own sons, and he was so helpful around the house. He performed all the chores ordinarily done by the husband, because Hajime didn't usually have much time to do them. Plus, he helped her in her gardens.
Pleased that he was sleeping well tonight, she finally turned back towards the front of the house. Turning the corner into the main area of the house, she walked straight into the smirking face of her husband. "Everything tidied up now, Tokio?"
"Ah, yes, Hajime," she smiled. "I'll be going to tell the stragglers now, hm?"
"Oh, no need. I've done it for you. I thought that I would save you the trouble," he said, smirking back at her as her smile dimmed a little. She recovered quickly, as she always had.
"Oh, well, that was most kind of you, Hajime, but really quite unnecessary. I'll just go and tell them myself anyway; they don't know you, and it might be much more effective if I inform them of their banishment as well."
"Oh no, Tokio, I quite believe that my method of telling them was effective enough. In fact, I would be rather surprised if they ever come back."
"Ah… Oh… well… I… I'll just go check, hm? You go ahead and go to sleep, all right? I wouldn't want for you to be tired tomorrow on my account."
She slid past him, taking slightly hurried steps toward the front porch. He watched as she looked left and right, craning her neck to see further and further down the dimly lit street.
"Tokio," he called, smirking ever wider. "I promise you, they are gone. Forever." He bit back a laugh at her crestfallen expression, and continued, "However, since I am aware of your strange need to nurture pathetic looking things—that is why I sent Eiji here, after all—I've done something else."
Her eyes lit up, and her usual soft smile returned.
"Keep in mind, Tokio, that if I ever see another of those stragglers around this house again, not only will I chase them off again, I will take this away."
Nodding, she followed him quietly into the kitchen, watching curiously as he opened the door to the small pantry that he'd had installed for her birthday last year. As he did, she caught sight of a small ball of grey fluff next to the door. Walking over to the small creature, she bent to her knees and placed it in her lap, looking at it adoringly.
It mewled softly and opened its blue eyes, staring back. She turned back to her husband, who was leaning now in the kitchen doorway, and grinned. He smiled back, just a tiny little smile, but it meant the world to her.
So he had known all along. Maybe she didn't have her own secrets after all.
She didn't mind the little things like that so much.
I do love writing Saitou, even if he is a bit difficult to keep in character. I hope I did okay?
Also, I'm not sure if I made this clear enough or not-- the so-called 'stragglers' are just a pack of stray cats, and Saitou is just letting her keep one.
Chapter four of Storms should be coming along shortly... I'm feeling really guilty about not writing... well, check my profile for news on that front.
Review?