Miyagi didn't notice the crashing and banging any more; Shinobu had been cooking (if you could call it that) for him for several months now, and Miyagi had learned to drown out the cacophony from the kitchen as he concentrated on his marking.
So he didn't even look up when there came a particularly loud crash, as of a heavy metal pan falling out of a cupboard, bouncing off the kitchen surface and landing with a resounding clang on the floor.
He half registered Shinobu swearing lightly, and called out to ask if he was alright, though not really concentrating on the reply.
"Everything's fine," Shinobu snapped, huffing.
It took several more minutes before Miyagi properly noticed the persistent sniffing. He frowned, trying to ignore the irritating sound and focus again on his work, but then it happened again; a big, wet sniffle.
After a minute, in which Shinobu must have sniffed loudly at least fifteen times, Miyagi looked up, starting to get worried. Had Shinobu hurt himself? He had said he was ok, but maybe he had got hurt when all the kitchen equipment somehow fell down around him.
Or was he upset about something? Miyagi racked his brain, but couldn't think of anything he'd done lately to upset the boy – though that didn't necessarily mean anything, Shinobu often seemed to get upset over small matters, and Miyagi didn't always realise what the problem was until he finally managed to wheedle it out of him.
Concerned, he abandoned his pile of paperwork and headed into the kitchen. Shinobu was standing to the left of the oven, facing away from him. As Miyagi came up behind him, Shinobu gave a great sniff yet again, his shoulders shaking slightly with the effort.
Miyagi gently rubbed the tops of Shinobu's arms, then reached round and took hold of his chin, turning the boy's face towards his own. To his consternation, he discovered that he had been right, Shinobu was upset or hurt – his big, beautiful grey eyes were puffy and red and moist tears glistened on his cheeks. He looked silently up at Miyagi.
Miyagi frowned anxiously and slipped his arms around Shinobu's waist.
"Shu-chin, whatever's the matter? Have you hurt yourself?"
"No," Shinobu replied, frowning in reply. "Don't be stupid, old man, of course not."
"Then have I done something to upset you?"
"Not that I know of… Why, have you got a guilty conscience?" Shinobu's wet eyes narrowed.
"No! But then, why are you crying, love?"
Shinobu stared at Miyagi for a moment; then a rare grin spread across his face as he replied,
"Idiot! I'm chopping onions…!"
And he raised his pungent fingers to Miyagi's nose and chased him out of the kitchen.