Hello all! Ahhhh finally, Chapter 7!...
...Well, don't just sit there, read on already!
"Hiyono-chan? Are ya okay?"
Hiyono glanced up at her blond cowboy friend and his very worried-looking crew. Hiyono gave a weak nod and stared back into her lap. After a moment of silence, Flynn continued.
"You haven't touched your food..."
If Ayumu had been at the table, he definitely would've known something was wrong. And he would probably stop at nothing to find out what it was so he wouldn't be plagued by her long face. Hiyono really didn't feel like talking. Flynn seemed to understand, but of course, Destrier piped in and hit the nail on the head, once again, "Hiyono? Does the Kiss the Cook competition bother you?"
Hiyono chose not to answer, but Jack furthered the matter with comforting words, though none that she could see would solve her problem, "Ya don't hafta be in the competition if you don't want to."
The young reporter sighed. She knew they were trying to help, but she just didn't feel up to it. She slowly rose from the table, speaking at almost a whisper, "Gomen...I'm sorry, could I please be excused?"
She was given permission and placed her nearly-full plate by the sink before she took off her boots, well, the boots that Jack and Flynn gave her, and hurried upstairs.
Man, she really needed a shower. She still had pig...stuff...all over her and in her hair. She was surprised that they actually let her sit at the table instead of eating with the dogs in the backyard. As she walked towards her door, she stopped in front of the closed door belonging to her brunette detective's. It wasn't difficult at all to figure out that he had probably either taken a shower and gone to bed or just gone to bed and skipped the shower.
She hoped that he wasn't still mad at her, if that's what it was at all. She didn't want that. With another un-Hiyono-like sigh, she turned around and walked back into her room, intending to prepare for her shower.
---
Ayumu Narumi groaned. How did he get himself into this? He was beginning to think that he should have never stolen his sister-in-law's tickets and just stayed home or gone into hiding or something. He wondered which would have been more of a mess. Following his little run-in with his reporter in the trailer, Narumi had gone back to work. What exactly he worked on, he wasn't entirely sure. His mind was so caught up in everything he couldn't exactly remember the actions he performed effortlessly even though he wasn't thinking about it. After they had all piled back in the pick-up truck, after Jack had placed towels on the seats for Ayumu and Hiyono so they wouldn't get his truck dirty, they had driven back to the ranch at the end of a long day's work.
Now he was back at the ranch-house, sprawled on the bed because of his physical and emotional exhaustion. He really had to get himself up and get a shower. Laying on the bed with dung caked all over him made him feel WAY too dirty and disgusting. There was no way he would be able to sleep like this.
Sleep...it seemed like such a prized gem to him now. He was so used to taking periodical naps on the school roof back at home, but here, of course, no sleep-on-able roofs, and no time to sleep on them.
To acquire this prized sleep, he knew that he had to make himself get up off the bed and get a shower, even though he was sore and disgusting and too exhausted to move.
What had Hiyono done to him today? What happened? How had his anger and frustration towards her melted into...whatever it was?
Finally, his confusion roused him enough to help him sit up on the bed, but held him still staring into his lap. He knew that Hiyono would never do this on purpose unless she knew what she was doing. After everything they've been through, he should be able to trust her with his life by now. Through everything, she had surely proved herself worthy of more than just being his Watson by now.
Ayumu gave a mental sigh. He really should give her a little credit. She wouldn't do something like this to him on purpose without having a proper plan. Slowly, he finally stood and trudged over to the door, turning the doorknob and opening said door a few inches to peek out into the hallway. At the sign of no activity, Ayumu opened the door wider and stepped out into the hall, grabbing a pair of old clothes from his suitcase on the way out.
---
Hiyono gave a refreshed sigh as she wrapped the towel around her head and secured it. Glancing in the mirror once, she turned and opened the door to the bathroom and nearly squealed in surprise. Her best friend, standing right in front of her, apparently waiting to use the bathroom, silently stared down at her. She moved over to let him inside, preparing to leave as he walked past.
Ayumu startled her once again by finally speaking with his usual casually annoyed tone, "You fogged up the mirror, stupid girl."
She turned to face him as she stood in the doorway, an indignant pout on her face. He knew that if she had her puppets on her then she would take them out and beat him with them.
After a moment, he continued, picking up a washcloth and wiping the steam from the mirror, "You know that the condensation from the steam that comes from the high temperature of the water not only creates the steam on the mirror, but also condensates as liquid on the walls. Which, in turn, will be more likely to grow mold."
Yep, same old Narumi-san. Hiyono smiled. Her smile broke when Ayumu turned abruptly to face her. He watched her for a moment, taking in the sight of her in her pajamas and a towel around her head with an unreadable expression on his face.
Hiyono squirmed, a bit anxious in the silence before he finally spoke, "You look like something out of a lame monster movie."
The caramel-haired journalist's face erupted in a pout once more, and, though she was devoid of her puppets, her fist flung at him with a ridiculously loud, "Hiyono punch!"
Ayumu, well prepared for the onslaught, caught her fist and held it tightly, tugging her towards him until she was close enough for him to hiss a low question, "Now, why did you get me involved in this absurd competition?"
His companion cringed, her eyes finding the floor as she was suddenly reminded of the little tidbit of information that her detective still didn't know. Giving a heavy sigh, her amber eyes found his chocolate ones as she softly spoke the truth, "Because I knew Narumi-san would win, and I wanted to show everyone how great his food was."
His hand still curled around her now-relaxed fist, Ayumu's cold stare softened the tiniest bit, but still held, "But why this?"
Hiyono bit her lip. She wondered if she should actually tell him right now, worried about his reaction. She sighed heavily, gathering up her courage, "Um, Narumi-san?"
He blinked, still waiting for her to answer, his heavy stare weighing her down. She shut her eyes tightly and opened her mouth, "I uh...Narumi-san, I'm...um...I'm sorry, I guess. Yeah...Gomen, Narumi-san."
Ayumu wasn't convinced one bit. He knew she was holding something back, but before he could say anything, she slowly pulled away from his grasp. He diverted his gaze as she backed out of the bathroom and took hold of the doorknob, about to shut the door.
She finally cleared her throat and gave an excuse, "I'm sorry for interrupting, Narumi-san, you really should finish taking a shower before you get too tired."
As she closed the door behind her, Ayumu let out a sigh. It bugged him wondering what she was holding back, but he wouldn't press it for now. He knew that, because of Hiyono's personality, she would end up telling him eventually...maybe.
Hiyono tossed and turned on her bed, unable to fall asleep, her wet hair unbound and strewn across the pillow. She knew she was in a real predicament. If Ayumu ended up losing the competition, she would be forced to kiss someone she didn't love. If he won the competition, she was afraid that, because of it, he would be angry with her, if not leave her completely. She knew that this was probably an irrational fear, but she couldn't help it. Ayumu Narumi was her best friend in the world, and for her, more than that. She just didn't want to lose him.
Yuizaki Hiyono closed her eyes tightly, hoping for good dreams to come quickly.
---
At breakfast, the staff and stablehands conversed as usual, and Ayumu actually ate his food, but Hiyono didn't touch it, delving deep through her thoughts. Ayumu watched her, having full knowledge that something was wrong.
When she excused herself the same way she had done the previous night and walked out the door to go outside, Ayumu waited a couple moments before he left his half-eaten food without a word to follow her.
However, Flynn's voice stopped him, "Ya don't know what's buggin' Hiyono-chan yet, mate?"
Ayumu remained silent in response. The blond cowboy opened his mouth and began to explain, despite Jack's warning glare, "She got picked as the replacement for the girl who was gonna be the center of the Kiss the Cook competition, that's all." Flynn chuckled and returned to eating his fried eggs. Jack elbowed Flynn, earning a slight painful whine from the latter.
The young detective took a few moments to digest this. Hiyono...his Hiyono...was going to be in this weird competition and give a kiss to the winner. This was all way too weird. Wait a second, HIS Hiyono, HIS Watson, HIS sidekick, HIS support, was going to kiss whoever won that stupid competition.
There was only three things he could do. He could take either himself or Hiyono out of the competition, he could take off like tomorrow would come too soon, or...he could make sure...no...wait...yes...he could make sure that he won. Ack! What a stupid idea. Wait, maybe he could make sure he won THEN take off, with her in tow. No, another stupid idea. He gave an internal growl and headed outside, slamming the door behind him, barely hearing the angry shout from within, "Hey, I jus' fixed that ther' door!" from the old geezer Blake.
The brunette swiveled his head to find Hiy-wait. Why was he so interested in finding her? What had happened to him? Since when had she become more than his support to lean on when he needed it?
Maybe that support for leaning grew of its own accord. Ugh! What was he thinking? He had to get this mumbo jumbo out of his head. Stupid hormones.
Even so, he still glanced around to find Hiyono leaning on the fence of the nearest paddock. This time, he didn't approach her, he merely leaned against the ranch-house and watched, though he wasn't sure why.
It was barely a few minutes before Flynn, Destrier, and Jack exited the ranch-house and proceeded towards the pick-up truck, ready for another day of getting ready for the festival. Flynn called Hiyono, who scampered over and climbed into the truck, as Ayumu solemnly followed. He could probably stay at the ranch, but he knew that he would get bored and spend his time trying to find a place to take a nap, and plus, someone had to make sure Hiyono stayed out of trouble.
To make sure she stayed out of trouble...Hmm.
---
"Oh wow! I've never seen one of these in person! Narumi-san! Come look!" Hiyono jumped up and down, standing at a newly-set-up stand. Ayumu exhaled silently and meandered over to see her drooling over a rack of some type of food wrapped in a bent, flat, toasted bread-substance with ground meat, cheese, and vegetables in the middle. Ayumu raised an eyebrow, "Tacos?"
Hiyono's bright face grinned at him, her eyes pleading for him to buy her a taco. Ayumu rolled his brown eyes and dug into his jeans' pocket. Hiyono's squeal was cut short when he extracted nothing from his pocket and stared at her with a look as if she should know the reason. She stared at him blankly for a moment, then sighed in defeat, "Oh yeah, you don't have much money, do you, Narumi-san?"
Ayumu shoved his hands in his pockets and expounded on her statement, "We should save the little we do have for another time when we really need it."
Hiyono pouted, though understood, "You're right. C'mon, Narumi-san, let's go check out how they're doing with the food court!"
The rambunctious teen dragged her companion by the arm towards the section of the festival dedicated solely to food.
---
Ayumu could swear that, as soon as he finished cooking a pie, Hiyono was eating it. With slightly-wrinkled eyebrows, Ayumu told her, "You should really save your appetite for the pie-eating contest before you either pass out from eating or I run out of pies."
Hiyono grinned as best she could, chunks of pie stored in her cheeks like a chipmunk. Ayumu fought a small smile and turned his head to watch the oven that his pies were cooking in. After a few moments of complete silence save for the sound of Hiyono eating, Ayumu spoke plainly, as more of a statement than a question, "So when were you going to tell me about your REAL place in the competition?"
He could hear Hiyono gulp down her pie and nearly choke on it before she regained herself. He brushed his russet-colored bangs out of his eyes and stared at his friend out of the corner of his glare. This question remained unanswered, even through the minutes and eventually hours of silence that followed.
Neither left each other, but their minds wandered through the silence, until Hiyono spotted another stand that caught her interest.
"Narumi-san, look! Aren't they pretty?"
Both walked up to the stand and observed the irises. As Hiyono took a closer look, she sighed, "They're so expensive..."
With that, she forced herself to walk away, while Ayumu stared at the irises a little while longer. The happiness of those who believe. Maybe that was why Hiyono was so happy all the time. But, if that was the case, then why was she acting so strange lately? Was it because of the competition?
"Beautiful flowers, huh?" a lady in her twenties walked up behind the counter and smiled at him. She glanced at Hiyono, who was walking aimlessly in a circle a few yards away, before fixing her gaze back on Ayumu, "Here, give it to the young lady."
The woman giggled and handed Ayumu one of the irises, nodding to Hiyono. Ayumu sauntered away without a word. When he reached Hiyono, she poked his shoulder and pointed over towards the stage, "Look, Narumi-san! They have the stage all set up already!"
Ayumu watched the stage disdainfully, knowing fully that he had help set up that blasted stage. When a twang of a guitar rang from the stage, Hiyono grinned and jogged down towards the stage to hear more. Ayumu stood there, the iris in his hand behind his back, watching Hiyono for a while before slowly making his way down there with full intent to drag her out.
Apparently, the bands were already practicing. When a band began to play after checking the sound system, Hiyono found herself swaying gently to the music. Before she knew it, she was twirling and spinning and moving, dancing with herself as if she was dancing the waltz with some invisible partner.
Ayumu watched her, trying not to smirk at her antics as she almost fell on the grass a few times from tripping over her own feet. The temptation to smile faded as his thoughts gathered. Hiyono was happy here. She fit in here and everyone loved her. Just watching her and watching anonymous people come up and say 'Hi!' to her was evidence of that. This was a remote place, out of danger, where Hiyono would probably be safe. Kanone would never think to look here.
A Narumi didn't belong here. It definitely didn't click at all. He needed to be home, in his own nice warm bed, go to school like normal people (he couldn't believe he just thought that), and most of all, the mystery of the Blade Children was HIS problem and HIS problem alone. He didn't want to risk his best friend's life by getting further into it. He had to go back. He would take both passports, so she wouldn't be in danger again and she wouldn't be able to come back.
Ayumu went through the rest of the day in silence, simply acting like he was paying attention. Mostly, he was debating on what he was going to do. He knew that whatever he decided, his plans would be formulated in the course of a couple minutes at the last possible second, knowing him.
---
When everyone arrived back home, the whole house enjoyed a feast of turkey, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese. Hiyono was extravagant over the food, but something was bothering her. Ayumu had barely even made fun of her today. He had barely said anything at all, usually he said something to annoy her, but he didn't even do that. Maybe the whole competition thing WAS really bothering him. Hiyono stopped stuffing her face for a moment, staring down at her plate, her expression morphing into a frown.
Ayumu was the last thing she wanted to lose. Now he had taken his plate up to his room, something that Hiyono wasn't actually surprised at. She knew that he probably would rather eat alone than with a bunch of ranchers and cowpokes. He was so used to eating with two other people at the most, so the huge amount of people here probably annoyed him.
A slight smile played on Hiyono's lips. He was undoubtedly at least a little annoyed at the fact that he wasn't able to play the piano or take a nap on the roof. Everyone, including Hiyono, continued to eat, drowning out any other noise with the buzzing of conversations.
After dinner, Hiyono was exceedingly bored. While the rest of the crew cleaned up, Hiyono snuck upstairs, planning on going up to bug Ayumu. She tiptoed over to his door, watching it for any sign of movement before bursting into the room, "Narumi-san!"
The empty room didn't answer, and neither did his absent suitcases. The reporter playfully scoured the room, under the bed, in the closets, behind the dressers, looking for any sign of Narumi-san or his belongings. A single light on the night-piecetable was left on, a piece of paper beside it. Curious, Yuizaki swiftly picked it up. She began to read out loud, trying to see if a hidden Narumi-san would respond to her reading. Soon, however, her reading became softer and softer until she read silently.
"I'm sorry...I've gone to finish all the Blade Children junk. You can't...be involved, it's...too dangerous..."
I'm sorry Hiyono...
He was really gone. He had gone and left her here all alone. Sure, the people here were nice, but she wouldn't be able to handle it for a day knowing that Ayumu wasn't going to come for her. He always came for her...
Defeated, Hiyono began to make her way downstairs, stopping mid-step when she heard a heavily-accented voice talking to someone, a very muffled voice that she could barely hear.
"No, I don't know what yer' talkin' about. Look, I told ya before..."
Hiyono peeked around the corner, seeing Flynn talking to someone on the phone, lacking his usual optimism.
"Look, Eyes! I told ya before! No! Forget it! Yeah I know, fate, death, blood, blah, blah, blah."
Hiyono had to keep herself from gasping. Flynn-san knew Rutherford-san?
"How many times do I gotta tell ya, Eyes? I want nothin' to do with your paranoid little club of Knife People!"
He paused as Eyes said something, then responded, "Call me a Leaf-toed Alien fer all I care! I don' care if I'm one of yer Blade Children er not!"
After another pause, "Kanone Shpamone! Sorry, Eyes, we jus' don't wanna be a part of this anymore. We told you that a long time ago...Yeah, take care, leather-fer-brains, don't kill anybody."
Flynn then replaced the phone back on its hook and sighed without turning around, "Ya can come out now, Hiyono-chan. I guess this is the part where I explain myself, huh?"
---
Okay, first of all, does Ayumu's note remind you guys of anything?? Oh yeah, and the taco scene was for El Taco who did so long for a taco scene...hehee, hope it suffices for now!
MWAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAAA!!! Who saw that one coming?!!! Lemme see a show of hands!!! ...or...a show of reviews! That works! Ah, speaking of reviews, sadly, we came so close, but 4 short of 50, so no preview of that right now...BUT! Because we were so close, I will throw in two previews of my next short-term fanfictions that will take up most of my December, for they are all Christmasy! Fwi! So yes, the next Chapter of Kiss the Cook won't come until at least January, but look forward to these! The first one is a one-shot, or consisting of one part, and the second has twelve parts, hence the title.
----Black and White Christmas Lights----
Christmas is approaching once again and everyone is filled with Christmas cheer, that is, except Ayumu Narumi. With her ever-ecstatic powers, Ayumu's high-strung sidekick will stop at nothing to awaken her friend's Christmas spirit.
----The Twelve Days of Christmas----
Christmas is quickly approaching and Hiyono and the Blade Children have twelve days to come up with different plans to buy gifts, bug Ayumu out of his mind and get him into the spirit of Christmas, plan Christmas parties, and play matchmaker with a little help from the mistletoe; all while avoiding getting found and/or killed by the Hunters.
Alas, and who wants to see the preview for Chapter 8? Well, you'll have to wait until after the shout-outs, yes, which I will continue since no one has told me to stop.
Little Minamino- Hmmm...NOW what do we think?? Alas, do not despair, my friend, I despise unhappy endings. Tootles! Look out for Chapter 8 and my Cheesy Christmas fics! Thankies for the long-term support! -must kick self into gear into writing fics as quickly as possible- God bless ya!
Sony89- Hehee, everyone knows that Ayumu couldn't stay mad at Hiyono forever...So what'd ya think? NOW the action begins...Thank you for your ever-loyal support and the 'WONDERFUL's!! -blush- 'Til next time! God bless you!
Jewely2951- HAHAHAHHAA...heheeee, you knew there was something up with Flynn, and you were close, yesyes. I bet you're sitting there right now pointing at the computer and saying, "HA! I was close! Oh yeah, I was close! I told ya so!" Heheee, thankies for the uber love! -returns uber love- Tootles! God bless you!
BeAuTifuL SmiLe- Update Delivery! Please don't fall over! It could cause head injury! I hope you like this chapter too! Tootles! Thankies for all your reviews! God bless you!
Chandallance- Hmm...twasn't mud...nopenope, twas pig poopy! And lots of it! Yes, Ayumu's on a quite a road alright. -laughs then hits self for cheesy puns- God bless you!
Sicilian Maiden- Ahhh, Sici-chan, MWAHAHHAAA! This means you have to update soon again, deary! Awww, heheee thankies for the 'fantabulous'! -Blush- Love ya and talk to ya soon! God bless you, Sici-chan! I'll be praying for you!
El Taco- Hahaa, yep! I put in the taco scene just for you! Aw, thankyou much! -Blush- I hope this chapter 'rocks' as much as the last ones did! Stick around for Chapter 8 and any other of my future Cheesy endeavors! God bless you and I shall try my best to keep up my Cheesy 'good work'! Tootles!
What-you-looking-at- Thank you much for your reading and support and encouragement! Be on look-out for next chapter and whatever other Cheesy stuff I got goin' on! Tootles and God bless you!
ayane04- Ah, yesh, Ayumu must be hesitant for now...O.o but will Hiyono be stuck in America ALONE to Kiss the Cook?? Aha! but don't fret! I shall try to update as soon as possible!
anonymus- Yesss, Ayumu is love! Thank you for the support and God bless you! However, I'm really really REALLY sorry, but I had to delete the review...I thought it was bugging my computer and it wouldn't let me update...And then the computer was just being a downright jerk.
Finally...The Cheeseball speaks the Preview...
PREVIEW: When Hiyono comes to a dangerous conclusion, she must do all she can to stop Ayumu from leaving for her sake as well as his. On the way, however, Flynn finally spills some key information that he's been holding back. Lastly is the fact that there is only one more day before the festival and this whole mess has to be cleaned up before the day of the festival.
Psst. More reviews...faster updates and perhaps a bonus preview of -insert secret information here-. -hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge-
Nah, you guys don't have to if you don't want to. Honestly, I want to get this thing going and over with because I have way too many ideas to be still stuck finishing this one! Tootles! I love you guys and God bless you!! Until next time! I'll be praying for you all! -Cheeseball out-
