Chapter 9

Hatori stood in the night air, nursing a cigarette, as he went over the evening in his head. He knew it wasn't going to go as well as he had planned once he saw the young woman he'd helped a few weeks ago. The doctor had hoped to not see her for a long time if ever again.

The dinner had not gone well in the serving aspect. The girl kept mixing up their orders, playing with her hair, and stuttering to him every time she asked him for an order. The meal was quite good, not greasy nor bad tasting, like he had expected. He would recommend the restaurant to some of the Sohma families.

Before they got dessert he was finally able to tell her what he wanted to the whole night. He said that he just couldn't go out with her anymore. Hatori hated these times of situations. That is why he didn't even know why he got involved. Well, he knew why, he was attracted to Mayu. She was pretty, intelligent, witty, and playful. She was everything a guy would want, except for him. He didn't feel anything and he didn't want her to get too attached. Not only would he end up hurting her, but so would Akito. Mayu didn't deserve that.

He expected her not to take it well, but he didn't expect her to become so distant. She said she felt like he did, the attraction wasn't there like it was in the beginning, but her voice was disappointed and monotone. She must have really expected something. To his and probably her discomfort they ate the rest of the meal in silence.

Hatori had offered to take her home, but he was answered with a fake smile and a no. She said she would walk home; she only lived a block away. He watched her back and then her shadow as she went around the corner and disappeared. He felt like an ass.

"Damn it! I hate you!" yelled an angry and frustrated voice that snapped Hatori out of his thinking. "No, no! I'm kidding! I love you!" came the voice again in a desperate and over the top loving tone.

He looked ahead and expected to see a lover's spat, but was caught completely off guard. There was the delinquent girl starting or maybe strangling her motorcycle. Her loose hair flew all over as she attacked it from different sides.

"Aw Hell! Damn it! Why won't you start!" she cried in anger, on the brink of crying.

The good doctor threw his cigarette in a nearby ashtray on top of a trashcan and walked over just as she practically collapsed on top of her bike. She raked her fingers through her hair and growled. He couldn't help but give a small smile at how funny she had acted.

He crouched down next to her and asked indifferently with a small amount of amusement, "Having trouble?"

The blonde stiffened and turned her head slowly to glare at him through her hair. She had recognized his low masculine voice and heard that little amused tone. Uo stared at him and responded smartly, "What do you think, doc?"

"I think," he said with a small smile, "that you are having trouble and should get off of your motorcycle so I may look at it."

She let out an exasperated sigh and languidly got off the bike. Extending her hand in a presenting gesture and giving him a sarcastic smile, she moved out of his way. He walked around it once and stared at it for a while, knowing she was growing angrier. "So, doc, what is the diagnosis?" she asked mockingly.

"Almost got one," he replied back smoothly, letting her bite roll over his shoulder. "One question, when was the last time you put gas in it?"

The young woman's eye brows drew in close, making a wrinkle over her nose, as her eyes narrowed in anger. Her jaw clenched and she lifted her finger, as if ready to tell him off. When she suddenly stopped and stood like a statue, thinking.

Hatori would have laughed at Uo, but held it to himself. She was a delinquent after all. He noticed that she started to relax and her eyebrows and eyes grew into a confused and upset appearance. Her blue orbs met his gold ones as she answered, "I have no idea."

"Then I would say you are out of gas."

"Thanks for the obvious, Sherlock."

"You are welcome, Watson."

Uo's face cracked into a smile. "I have no idea if that even made sense."

Hatori shrugged with a hint of a smile on his face. "Me neither, but it sounded good."

Uo laughed and agreed. "Yeah, it did." She looked at the ground thoughtfully musing over his statement with a smile. Suddenly the reality of the situation hit her and her smile turned into a frown. "I need gas…."

"Yes it would seem so," answered the doctor with a nod.

Uo just raised a fair eyebrow at the man and turned towards her motorcycle. Ok, so she needed gas. She patted her pockets with her long thin hands and felt for her wallet. Yup, it was there and she remembered putting money in it this morning. But she couldn't remember where the nearest gas station was.

"Do you know where the nearest gas station is?" she turned to ask the dark haired man.

"Yes. It is just around the corner and down two blocks," Hatori said. He saw the determined look in her eye and he asked quickly before she did something stupid. "What are you planning to do?"

"I'm gonna go to the gas station and get some gas! Duh," Uo stated as if it was obvious.

"I figured that." The doctor said, "But are you going to push your motorcycle there?"

"No! I'm gonna hoof it and maybe they'll let me borrow a gas can or I can buy one. Then I'll return here and put gas in my tank," Uo answered, and then turned to walk in the direction he mentioned.

"It is late-"

"I know it's late, doc. Thanks for your concern but I need to get home. Who knows what my dad is doing or what he's got in to. I also need to clean, do some homework, and take a shower. Besides, don't you remember I was in a gang? I can handle myself," Uo interrupted his protest as she kept walking towards her destination with confidence.

"Uotani," he said stopping Uo in her tracks. She turned like a wined up toy and faced him with a bored look, waiting for him to talk. "I know you were in a gang and could defend yourself-"

"Butter me up first, that always-"

"But it would make me feel better if I drove you there," he interrupted her interruption. His eyes conveyed all seriousness and a little bit of worry. Uo's hard stare from being interrupted softened and she sighed lightly as if tired.

"Fine," she complied as she shrugged as if she didn't care but her eyes shown with relief. She didn't really want to walk there all by herself with all the possible creeps around probably waiting to kidnap her. "If you insist."

Hatori walked sophisticatedly over to his van and unlocked it, allowing her access. He slid into his seat just as Uo plopped herself into the passenger's. She looked around the van like a small girl would look around a new doll house. "This is a nice van. Of course, since you're a doctor, I'd expect a nice vehicle."

"Of course," the doctor responded back as he put the car into drive and drove towards the gas station.

The van was quiet and of course the ex-gang member hated silence so she decided to get some answers for her curiosity. "So… how did your date go?" she asked innocently.

"Not good, not horrible," the man answered, not wanting to give a lot away.

"Hmm, that means not very good."

"Why would you say that?"

"Well, usually someone would say 'not good, not bad' or 'not great, not horrible' so they would balance each other out making the date okay. A 'not good, not horrible' would lean more towards the bad than the good. That probably didn't make any since, but it did to me."

"No, I understood," Hatori answered, surprising himself that he did understand.

"See! I knew I wasn't insane." He could hear the smile in her voice. "So what happened?"

"We had a bad waitress." Hatori felt the air in the van darken as he pulled into the gas station. He chanced a glance at his passenger and saw her pale. He quickly corrected himself. "No, not you. Sorry if you thought that." Uo's face became its natural color as she breathed normally. "The other girl kept getting our orders mixed up and she was clumsy and stuttering, but I'm sure she'd a nice girl." The doctor added, feeling like he was talking badly about her.

"No, she's new and she thinks that she knows everything. And that stammering thing is because she thought you were hot. She thinks any hot guy would fall for an 'innocent' girl like her," Uo said as she rolled her eyes just thinking about her. Hatori blushed slightly but overall ignored what she just said.

They both got out of the vehicle. Uo headed towards the gas pump as Hatori went in the opposite direction. The young woman noticed this and turned as he popped the trunk of his van. "Doc, what the hell do you think you are doing? The gas is this way. Just sit in your nice van and-"

She immediately stopped as she saw him take small gas can out of the back. Blushing at how rude she must have sounded, she turned her gaze up to his golden orbs. He's such a nice guy, Uo thought. "Sorry, I didn't know you had a gas can," the blond apologized, trying to convey to him that she was apologizing for being so rude, which was hard.

"It is fine," he smiled sweetly, causing Uo to blush even more.

And he's so hot. She turned, hoping he wouldn't see her blush, which he didn't.

Uo quickly got the gas and took out her wallet when she noticed Hatori standing near the owner already paying for the gas. She frowned at this and decided to wait until they got into the van to yell at him. She could take care of herself. He really didn't need to pay.

As she put the cap back on the gas can she saw the doctor lift it up and head towards the van at a fast pace. She practically had to jog to keep up with him. Damn, he had long legs.

He opened the passenger side and put the gas can in front of the seat, allowing some room for her legs. Leaving the door open, he got in on the driver's side and turned the van on. Uo set herself in the seat and buckled her seatbelt as he put the vehicle in reverse to leave.

"You know you really shouldn't have paid. I have money you know."

"Happy Birthday," he said as if he just told her the weather and he drove on to the street.

"It isn't my birthday!"

"Happy early Birthday."

"It's not even close to my birthday!"

"Than think of it as payment for getting kicked out of serving us."

"It was my choice."

Hatori gave out an annoyed sigh. He was getting annoyed with this girl. Does she not know how to accept a good deed from someone else? The feel of her glare on the side of his head did not help.

"Stop glaring at me," he tried changing the topic.

"I'm paying you back," she said stubbornly.

"No."

"Yes."

"I won't accept it."

"You will accept it."

He parked near her motorcycle and turned off the van. "Get out," he ordered softly as he got out of his side. Without looking, he knew the young woman got out because she shut the door with such force it made the whole van practically shudder. Hatori couldn't help but cringe at the noise.

He watched her as she attempted to fill the tank. The blonde's thin hands were shaking with such anger she couldn't pour the gas at a fast pace. Not wanting to wait forever for her to get done, he went over and took the tank from her hands gently. Her head whipped to glare at him but she gave no protest, knowing that she was too angry to do it properly herself.

Once he was done, he put the can in the back of his van, leaving the cap to Uo's gas tank open. She quickly screwed it on and turned to the man who just finished shutting the trunk door. "Thanks," she said with restraint so she wouldn't flip out on him.

"For helping or paying for it?" he asked, risking her lashing out at him. He was curious to her reaction.

She clenched and unclenched her jaw for a few seconds before he saw her relax. "For everything," she said truthfully as she let out a sigh of defeat. "I never thanked you for helping me when I was sick and now you help me get home. Then what do I do? I freaking get pissed at you when you're just trying to help. Sorry," she spit out, slightly embarrassed, and crossed her arms over her chest.

Hatori was a little surprised, but he nodded his head and allowed a small smile to grace his face. "You are welcome."

"Yeah, whatever," she brushed him off as she sat on her motorcycle. She turned the keys and heard the beautiful sound of her engine purring. Slipping on her motorcycle helmet, she saluted the doctor and turned the handle of the bike, driving off into the night.

Hatori couldn't help but think of the tail lights as a butterfly as he watched her drive down the street. He ran his fingers through his bangs as he took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit the end. The man couldn't tell her the reason he paid was to pay her back for him borrowing her money from when she was sick. In his impatience to get her out of the estate, he'd forgotten to pay her back.

Quite proud of himself, he flicked his unfinished cigarette into the ashtray from earlier and it lay happily next to his cigarette from before. Slipping behind the wheel of his van he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He looked over and groaned at the sight. There in the passenger seat laid some bills and a piece of paper with a smiley face sticking its tongue out.