Denial
By: pnaixrose
Disclaimer: I don't own RK.
Chapter 3: Just a Friend
Tsubame watched dazedly as her boss packed up a few last-minute things for her trip. Today was the day Tae-san would leave. Tsubame would have to run the restaurant alone.
Of course, she wouldn't be completely alone. Yahiko-kun would stay with her in Tae's absence. She didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Yes, it was always nice to have him around. He had that social personality and could always make her laugh so there had never been an awkward moment between the friends. But would it change if Yahiko was living with her? A boy...living with her.
She self-consciously hugged herself. It was only Yahiko. He wouldn't do anything to her. Besides, they were only fifteen! And it wasn't like they'd be sleeping in the same room or anything.
Tsubame mentally kicked herself. What in the world was she thinking about?
"Tsubame," Tae's sweet and teasing voice said suddenly, "get our mind out of the gutter."
The teen's face turned red with embarrassment. How had Tae-san known what she was thinking about? The woman hadn't even looked up from her packing.
Scary.
Tae gave the bag a little tap of satisfaction as she sighed and turned to her employee. She was going to miss this girl. Throughout the past few years, she had grown to love Tsubame like a daughter. Tae did not want any kind of harm come to the young teen and wanted her to be as happy as she could be.
Tsubame's innocence and pure sweetness had always made people smile, while Yahiko was the type of person who could make people smile with his childish pride and his sarcasm. A good, happy couple. If they ever did get married, they would have a very healthy relationship. It would be one that had stemmed from friendship and had grown to undying love. It was the perfect love story. And they deserved each other too. After all, it wasn't as if the two kids have had perfect, easy lives. They both deserved to be happy.
She gave Tsubame a gentle smile as she faced her. "Well, take good care of the restaurant. But most of all, take care of yourself, okay Tsubame?" Tae's grin grew. "But don't worry. Yahiko-kun will probably do that for you."
The younger girl laughed a bit in embarrassment. "Oh Tae-san. Will you ever stop teasing me?"
"I'll tell you what. When I come back and you two are finally a couple, I'll stop teasing." The restaurant manager winked suggestively.
Tsubame nearly choked at the mere thought of them being a couple. In order for them to be together, she'd have to confess her feelings. But she would never have the courage to do that. Besides, the other component of being a couple is that the boy had to like you back. Tsubame scoffed inwardly. No way would Yahiko ever like her. "I-I really don't think that will happen, Tae-san."
Her boss sighed in frustration as she placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. Tae would never understand why Tsubame would be afraid of confessing her love if it was obvious Yahiko had feelings for her too. The boy may not know it, but it was obvious he did. Well, that was how young love was. It was full of fear but at the same time, it brought so much excitement and happiness.
Tae leaned in a bit to Tsubame, her face more serious than ever. And it was scary seeing Tae serious. She was usually teasing her and smiling. "Tsubame, you're going to be here alone with Yahiko-kun for awhile. Just you and him. Alone." She gave her a meaningful look. "Look Tsubame, it'll be the perfect opportunity!"
But the girl simply turned her gaze to the floor. She knew that what Tae said was true. The next few days would be the perfect opportunity to tell him. And if he ever did feel the same, they'd be able to spend a lot of time together while Tae was gone. But...
...he would never feel the same. It was simply impossible.
"I-I don't know, Tae-san," Tsubame said quietly. "I don't want to ruin our friendship." After all, she treasured their friendship. Even if she would never be with him the way she wanted, she could at least be a close friend. If she told him her feelings, maybe an awkward atmosphere would grow between them. She wouldn't be able to stand that.
The older woman sighed as she nodded slowly. "Alright. If that's what you think." Tae stood from her spot on the ground, picking up her bag. She strode towards the door slowly as she left Tsubame sitting there to think. But before she completely left the girl alone, Tae turned to her with a smile on her face. "What ever makes you happy, Tsubame."
As Tae walked out of the room, Tsubame sighed in frustration. What ever made her happy? That's just the thing...
...Yahiko made her happy.
A yelp for help was heard as Kenshin covered her ears with his hands. He flinched as Kaoru walked towards him, dragging a complaining Yahiko behind her...by the ear.
Ouch.
The swordsman stopped walking toward the Akabeko and waited for his friends to catch up. He couldn't help but pity the young boy in Kaoru-dono's grasps. "Kaoru-dono," he said as he noticed everyone else around them look at them in interest. "Don't you think you're being a little too hard?"
She didn't even paused to look at him and just kept walking towards the restaurant. "Too hard? He's going to chicken out, Kenshin!"
Yahiko yelped as she pulled him along roughly. He was not chickening out! Back at the dojo, he had simply just asked them one last time if they thought this whole situation was appropriate. Suddenly she was yelling and pulling him by the ear! It was just a question! Jeez! What was wrong with this stupid busu? "I-I was not! I was just-"
"Trying to get out of it?" Kaoru interrupted rudely. She glared at the boy she was dragging. "I know you too well, Yahiko-CHAN. Besides, you probably wouldn't come here voluntarily. I decided it was my duty to-"
"Pull my ear off? OUCH! Dammit, let go, busu!"
Kenshin sweat dropped at the sight and meekly took a few steps back from the two. "K-Kaoru-dono. I don't think it's necessary to pull him along any longer. We're right in front of the Akebeko."
Kaoru let go of the boy's ear as she noticed the familiar restaurant. Smiling in satisfaction, she seemed to ignore the fact that Yahiko was rubbing his precious ear and muttering things about her. "Well let's go in."
Still rubbing his ear, Yahiko sighed. "Why are we here so early anyway? Are we seeing Tae-san off?"
Kaoru nodded. "She'll be leaving this early. I wanted to give her some final farewells." She glanced at her younger friend. "Besides, the restaurant will be opening. You can help Tsubame prepare."
"So early?" Yahiko had believed he'd have at least some hours before he'd have to stay with Tsubame. He had never been here this early anyway. He had always been stuck doing some stupid chore at the dojo.
Just as he finished the thought, they heard a familiar, melodious voice from inside the restaurant. "Tae-san, I'll put your bag outside. Then after you leave I'll be getting some ingredients that we're low on."
Another voice was heard. "Ah, Tsubame! You're an angel from above! Arigatou!"
Immediately, Tsubame was seen at the door, struggling with a huge bag she was dragging with both hands. Her brown eyes widened at the early comers and a noticeable tint of red reached her face. "Y-Yahiko!"
He grinned childishly, instantly brightening as he saw her. "Hey, Tsubame. Let me help you out there." Before she could refuse, he had already slung the bag over her shoulder. He groaned at the weight and chuckled nervously. Guess he wasn't as strong as he thought yet. Kenshin and Sano would've been able to carry that bag with one finger. "Um...where should I...?"
The girl laughed. "You really didn't have to do that, Yahiko-chan. Tae-san will be out any minute."
As he dropped the heavy bag on the ground, Kaoru smirked. "Trying to impress someone, Yahiko-chan?"
He glared at the two ladies who had called him that horrid nickname. "I was just trying to help. Why does she have so much things with her anyway?"
"It's mainly clothes and food," a woman said, coming out from the restaurant. She smiled brightly at them. "Ohayou. Why are you guys here?"
"We just wanted to say goodbye one last time," Kaoru said as she came up to the restaurant manager and gave her a friendly hug. "Have a safe trip."
Tae smiled gratefully at her as she returned the hug. "Arigatou."
"You're not going to walk all the way there, right?" Yahiko said as he eyed the huge bag. "That'll be a hard trip with all this stuff you have."
Kenshin, being such a gentleman as he was, offered some help. "Yes, it will. If you want, I can accompany you there, or at least half way. Surely, you can't be carrying that heavy bag by yourself."
"Oh, no. I can't let you do that," Tae said with a slight smile. "Don't worry about me so much. I'm taking a carriage."
"Tae-san, are you sure you don't want any company?" Tsubame hopefully asked once more. "I'm sure the trip will be lonely and-"
"Oh, Tsubame-chan. I'll be fine. Besides, I need someone to take care of the restaurant. You'll do that for me, won't you? Promise?"
The girl nodded slowly. She still wanted to accompany the friend who had taken care of her for so long, yet she knew Tae-san had left her with an important job. She hugged the woman gently. She was going to miss her a lot.
Just then, the carriage pulled up nearby and Tae sighed. "Well, I'll have to leave you all. I'll miss you." She looked at Yahiko and Tsubame and smiled slyly. "Have fun."
Kenshin grabbed her bag as the group went towards the carriage. Tae slid in as the swordsman placed the bag next to her. She gave a final smile. "Ja ne."
And with that, the carriage slowly rolled away as Tae waved goodbye. She'll be back soon enough though. Tae grinned to herself.
Hopefully, things will have gotten interesting by the time she returned, especially between a young waitress and a stubborn boy.
The group stayed until the carriage had disappeared. After a while, Kenshin and Kaoru turned to look at each other and then at the two younger ones."Well, Kenshin and I will be leaving now," Kaoru said to the teens. "I have a class soon and Kenshin has to make up all the chores."
She looked teasingly at the redhead as he sighed, thinking about all the work that awaited him back at home. "Oro..."
"We'll be right at the dojo if anything happens, okay Yahiko? Come and get us anytime."
The boy was surprised. That was the first serious thing that the woman has said to him in a while. He shrugged. "We won't need help. Don't worry," He folded his arms in front of him self-assuredly. "I've got things under control."
"We know," Kenshin replied with a smile. "But just in case..."
Yahiko chuckled. "Yeah, yeah..."
Tsubame bowed to the two older friends. "Kaoru-san, Kenshin-san, ja ne. Thank you for seeing Tae-san off."
"No problem," Kaoru said with a smile. She turned to her black-haired student and looked at him gently. She'd miss having the annoying freeloader around all day. Most of the time he was a complete brat, but it was also so much fun teasing Yahiko. But he'd still be around. It wasn't as if he left town or anything. Besides, he still had his lessons and he better not be late for them! But the dojo will probably be pretty quiet for quite awhile without his complaining. "Take care of her, Yahiko...chan."
He growled with an angry expression on his face as the two walked away. He heard Tsubame trying to stifle her giggling. Jeez...when will they finally stop calling him that? But hearing her laughing suddenly made him smile. "Be quiet," he said teasingly with a pout.
She gave one last laugh. "Gomen ne," Tsubame replied with a grin. "It's just funny."
They caught each other's gaze and suddenly the lighthearted moment ended. The two were silent and still, as the town around them seemed to begin waking up. People started roaming the streets and stores began to open. Streets became crowded and voices were heard. But they seemed to be oblivious to it all.
Both Yahiko and Tsubame had realized...this was it. The fact had hit them and it was reality. Yahiko would live with her for the next few days. The boy didn't know why he was suddenly nervous. Hadn't he assured himself just the day before that spending time with Tsubame would be fun? It would be great. Besides, it was a change of scenery.
Suddenly, looking at her dark eyes, he felt an odd tingle run down his back. Yahiko tore his gaze from her, wondering what had compelled him to do that.
Weird...
"Wh-What next?" he asked, trying to break the silence. "Anything you need me to do?"
Tsubame gave a small smile at his offer. She was glad he had spoken first. All that while, she had been trapped in his gaze, unable to get a word out. She silently hoped that Yahiko hadn't heard her incredibly loud heart beating. For some reason, the sounds of it had been amplified in her ears. "Arigatou Yahiko-kun," she replied. "I'm fine though. I just have to get a couple of things in the market that we'll probably need."
"Okay. Let's go."
Tsubame quickly shook her head. "Oh, you don't have to come with me, Yahiko-kun. I don't want to trouble you."
Yahiko raised an eyebrow. Was she crazy? Letting her go to the market alone? What kind of man would he be if he let her go by herself? "Does Tae-san usually come with you?"
She looked guiltily at the ground, knowing that he had caught her. "Well, yes. But-"
"Then I'll come with you. If anything happened, I'll just be blaming myself. Besides, what am I going to do waiting here?" He watched her sigh and immediately knew he had won.
"Okay, okay," she replied. "You win."
Yahiko's one-of-a-kind grin appeared. "Yatta."
Listening to his footsteps close behind her, Tsubame couldn't help but smile. Her next couple of days would be nerve-wracking, yes. But she got to spend time with him. A lot of time with him.
And who knows, maybe he'll realize that he loved her as he got to know her even better.
Tsubame inwardly scoffed at her ridiculous thought. How impossible.
But she knew one thing for certain. Today was going to be different.
"Ohayou, Yamada-san," the Akabeko waitress said brightly as she approached an outdoor fruit and vegetable vendor. Yahiko followed close in pursuit.
He had been behind her the whole shopping trip and at first Tsubame thought he would get bored. She wanted to tell him that if he was bored he could leave, but whenever she had turned to him, he was smiling down at her and she would melt. Whenever Tsubame saw that smile, the thought of asking him to leave her was out of question. She wanted him with her. It was selfish, but it was the truth.
She didn't know if he was pretending not to be bored or if he was extremely patient. It was hard to believe a patient Yahiko, so she figured that he was just pretending. Besides, wasn't it just yesterday that he had been complaining that the whole town was dull?
"Tsubame-chan! Well it's nice to see you today!" Yamada-san replied. His eyes caught sight of the young man behind her and he smiled even brighter. "Is that Yahiko-kun? What are you two doing together so early in the morning, eh?" After a pause, the stocky, short man laughed and winked at the embarrassed teens. "Ah, I see..."
Yahiko could almost die. Yamada-san thought they were a couple! "Y-You've got it all wrong, Yamada-san!" argued the black-haired boy quickly. "I just have to live with her the next couple of days!"
The seller raised an eyebrow. "Live with her?"
Yahiko inwardly scolded himself as his blush grew. He had just made the situation worse.
"I-It's not like that!" Tsubame interrupted hurriedly, seeing Yahiko at a loss of words. "Tae-san is gone for a couple of weeks and Yahiko-kun is simply watching over me."
The man laughed heartily at the teens' reactions. To be in love yet to deny it for fear of rejection. Oh, how it was to be young again. "I'm just playing with you two. I've heard that Tae had gone off. Are you sure you don't need any more help at the restaurant, Tsubame? If you like, I could come down and maybe help cook a few things."
The girl shook her head quickly with an appreciative smile on her lips. She was truly grateful for the offer, but she couldn't possibly let him do that. "Oh, that's all right, Yamada-san. I can handle it. Thank you for the gracious offer though." Tsubame knew she had to take charge of the restaurant without any extra help to show Tae-san she was responsible and that she had learned well from her. Besides, she didn't want Yamada-san to have to do more work than he had to.
The older man smiled down at the two young customers. "Alright. After all, Yahiko-kun's with you. Everything is sure to be fine, ne? Yahiko-kun, you better take care of her."
The addressed boy couldn't help but smile a bit. Yamada-san was right. There is no way anything bad will happen to Tsubame. He would be right there with her every step of the way. "Yeah, don't worry. I won't let anyone harm her," he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "She's safe with me."
He nearly froze at his own words in confusion. Where had that come from? And why did he feel as if he would do anything in the whole world for her?
Yahiko shrugged the thoughts aside. He was simply being a good friend.
Just a friend.
If he had been paying attention, he would've noticed a surprised expression upon Tsubame's face as she peered up at him. Besides that, he also would've noticed that she was blushing like crazy.
Tsubame inwardly sighed as she asked Yamada-san for the ingredients she had come for. As she was about to grab the bag of vegetables, Yahiko suddenly extended his arm to get it first.
"I'll get that for you, Tsubame," he simply said with a big grin.
Why did Yahiko have to make her heart flutter so much anyway?
"So this is Tae-san's house..." the teen said as he looked at the small yet cozy home. The four-room house was situated just behind the Akabeko. Having it so close to the restaurant probably made it easier to get to work everyday. He grinned as he stepped onto the small porch, removing his slippers first. Entering the main room, his curiosity took over him as he scanned the neat, little house. He heard Tsubame's footsteps behind him and he turned. "It's a very nice home. Really cozy."
Tsubame smiled. "Arigatou."
She was at loss of words as Yahiko continued smiling down at her. Yahiko...was in her house. Forcing herself not to look too nervous, Tsubame returned the smile he was giving her. "I-It's not all that interesting, but do you want a tour?"
Chuckling, Yahiko shrugged his shoulders. "Why not?"
She led him into front of two bedrooms. "This is Tae-san's room. You'll be staying here," she said as she indicated to a shoji door shyly. "The one next to it is mine."
Their rooms were next to each others. Yahiko felt blood run to his face. Tsubame would literally be just next door to him.
Wait, why was he making such a big deal out of it? So what if Tsubame would be just on the other side of the wall when she was sleeping at night? So what if she would be there when she undressed-
Bad, bad Yahiko. He couldn't believe he was thinking all of this! Why did being a teenage boy have to kick in now?
"Yahiko-kun?" Tsubame said worriedly. His face had suddenly turned bright red. At the sound her voice, she watched as he suddenly shook his head and turned to her.
"H-Hai? Gomen. Just thinking."
She smiled and shrugged. "Well, it's almost time to open the restaurant. Thank you for escorting me to the market."
Yahiko nodded. "Glad to do it."
Tsubame went up the shoji door leading to her room. "Well, I have to change into my uniform. Please, do as you like. Get comfortable." With one more smile of hers, there was the sound of the sliding door and she disappeared.
Yahiko's red grew red again as he stared at the door. Tsubame was changing her clothes in a room just beyond a flimsy wall.
He mentally slapped himself. What was he thinking?
She was...just a friend!
Yahiko looked around the Akabeko as he bent down to pick up some dirty dishes from a table. Only three tables had customers seated at them, enjoying their lunch. It was a rather slow day. It was lunchtime and usually it would be packed with people. Maybe it was better this way. In a few minutes he'd have to go over to the dojo for his lessons with the busu. At least the workers wouldn't have to do that much work while he was gone.
"Hey, Myojin-san," one of the two cooks yelled from the kitchen as he chopped some vegetables, "can you get more water from the well?"
"Hai!"
Dropping off the dirty dishes, he made his way to the back of the building, bringing an empty bucket with him. Working at a restaurant was quite hard. All morning, he hadn't gotten a chance to sit down or think. Maybe this was why Tsubame was never bored like he was. She always had so much work to do. And she had to do even more things than most of the workers had. Tsubame had to get orders, deliver orders, give orders to the other employees, smile politely, go from table to table, collect the money...
Yahiko would die from so much work! This work was even more straneous than his chores at the dojo.
As he headed towards the well he spotted a familiar person sitting on top of a pile of wooden crates. It was Tsubame, clad in her westernized uniform that Tae-san had recently decided to try out and had made ever employee wear one. It was a cute outfit, yet he liked her better in a kimono. Somehow she looked more natural that way. Besides, she always looked stiff in her waiter uniform. She spotted him and gave him a small smile. "Yahiko-kun..."
The boy left the empty bucket near the well as he walked towards her and took a seat beside her. "Slow day, eh?" he commented with a grin.
She gave a sigh and nodded. "Yes, it is."
Yahiko noticed the faraway tone of her voice and looked at her face which was in a daze. "You okay? Tired?"
She was tired, both physically and emotionally. All day as she worked, she had been looking over her shoulder to stare at the boy cleaning up after customers had left their tables. She couldn't help it. Every chance she had, Tsubame would be watching him, silently smiling whenever he had made a joke with the customers or with the chefs. The way he always ruffled his already messy hair in frustration when he dropped a few dishes, the way he smiled and said a brief "arigatou" when customers left...
Everything.
It was so tiring.
"Don't worry, Tsubame-chan," he said encouragingly. "It'll get better. There'll probably be more customers tomorrow."
She smiled slightly. At least he didn't know what she really was thinking. "W-Well, I'm tired already even though we're having a slow day. And it's not even close to closing time and I'm worn out. Imagine what it will be like when there's a busy day! I have to count all the money later on too. I've never done that. Tae-san usually does that. She usually cleans the floors and tables when we close and pays the workers at the end of each week..." Tsubame gave a tired sigh. "I can't do it, Yahiko-kun. It's too hard. I'm so tired already."
Her friend laid a comforting hand on her shoulder and she immediately felt the warmth. A great dose of her fatigue suddenly vanished. She turned to him and found him smiling back at her.
"It's hard, I know. I haven't moved so much in a long while that my legs are starting to hurt." His eyes grew gentle. "I admire you for having to deal with this everyday. It's even harder than facing the busu everyday when she scolds me!" Yahiko gave a satisfied smile as he heard her laughter ring through his ears. "So don't worry. Before you know it, you won't be tired at the end of each day. I'll be here. I'll help mop and clean and count money and pay the workers. Although, I have to tell you not to trust me with the money. I'm horrible at counting."
Tsubame giggled again, smiling sweetly up at him. "Arigatou. For making me feel better."
"Anything to make you smile, Tsubame," he replied, feeling as if he had accomplished his mission.
She blushed, hoping he didn't notice the redness of her cheeks. "Y-You're a really good friend...Yahiko-chan." He faked a pout at the dreaded nickname and she laughed yet again.
As Yahiko complained and whined about not being called "Yahiko-chan," she couldn't help but let her smile falter a bit. As happy as she was that he was with her and trying so desperately to make her happy, she couldn't help but give an inward sigh.
Is that all you'll ever be, Yahiko? Just a friend?
