/ Enjoy!
Chapter 14: Secrets
/
"Like this?" Hatori asks. He has the hand mixer on the lowest setting, and it's barely skimming the surface of the eggs.
"Not quite. Beat them until they form stiff white peaks. Tilt the bowl to one side if you need to." My voice is loud to travel over the sound of the mixer. It's so funny to see his ineptitude in the kitchen. It's clear to me he has never used, or even seen some of the equipment. He was previously holding the hand mixer like a gun. It brings him down from the mighty pedestal I've put him on. Just a millimeter.
"Ooo, sounds like some kinky S&M." Shigure's voice drifts from his bedroom.
"Quiet, Shigure!" Hatori shouts, shaking his head in disgrace. He walks to Shigure's room and closes the door. "Excuse that eavesdropping, drunken fiend." He says to me with a quirk of his lips. There is a loud emphasis on the word 'eavesdropping'. I assume that's his form of a smile. I quite like it. I notice a little snaggletooth. I want to squeal. It's cute. And I've stored that smile in a folder in my brain labeled 'My Unpredictable Savior.'
"Good work, there are the stiff peaks." I point out.
Hatori nods his head in agreement. "Interesting. I did not know eggs had the capability of transformation."
"There's a lot that eggs can do. Their taste can change – from a breakfast fried egg to dessert custard to meringue, you name it!"
"So where did you learn all your cooking skills, Tohru?"
"My mom. She didn't know how when she was my age. But when she married my dad, she wanted to be the best wife, and she learned. She followed a new recipe everyday for a year before she started inventing her own stuff. She and I always had weekend cooking experiments. They weren't always successful, but always fun."
/
Hatori could see the joy in Tohru's eyes when she spoke of her mom. It made him feel melancholy. Here was a bright, loving, good girl who did nothing wrong, yet lost both of her parents. How was the world fair?
/
"It's starting to smell delicious. Strawberry." Hatori said, as they sat side by side at the kitchen counter.
"Yes." Tohru said, glowingly. "Momiji's allergic to milk, so we are going to pour on a strawberry glaze tomorrow."
"As his doctor, I had to witness his reaction when he was a poor baby." Hatori said with a small shudder.
"Did you see most of the younger generation grow up?"
"Not really. Most were sheltered before the age of twelve, just playing amongst each other. Their parents thought we were too jaded. But eventually kids get out. Now we see each other quite frequently. And thanks to you."
Tohru reddened at the compliment.
Beep, beep.
/
"It's done!" I shout eager to get out of his dark gaze. It was starting to make me feel all fuzzy, like I couldn't think straight. He has that way of getting underneath my skin so that I can't think about anything but him. He doesn't even need to try. It's his whole aura.
I put on the oven mitts and bring out the spongy pink-hued cake.
"It's so perfect. But we've got to hide it from Shigure. It would be just like him to take a chunk out." Hatori whispers with an air of secrecy, as if plotting some great exploit.
I start to panic. There's the fridge in the garage. I know he doesn't go there. He thinks it's where I hide the mystery meat I cook up."
"Great."
I feel like we've somehow bounded, over this small secret, even though we are harboring a much greater secret.
"So, the party is being organized by Kisa and a very eager Momo. They're going to have it by the lake on the estates in the afternoon. Akito found out about it several days ago and wants to go, so I won't be able to attend, but at least I'm involved. I'm going to drop off the cake and glaze at 10. She will unknowingly be eating a cake I prepared."
/
Hatori's fists clench. The first interference by Akito since their 'involvement.' This doesn't bode well, he thought to himself. Akito always had a way of finding out about things, it's like she has hidden cameras and voice recorders everywhere. Tohru and I really have to be careful.
"Listen, Tohru. You have to be careful. No more coming to my office when you need me. We'll find somewhere else. Give me some time to think about it. We can't have Akito finding out. Call or text my cell phone."
Tohru nods. Her face is drawn of color as she realizes the impact that Akito is back.
Hatori thinks deeply about all the options. Shigure's house? It'll be risky, but discovery is the least damaging. The estate is out of the question. The vacation house…?
/
It's late afternoon and I'm sitting at Shigure's home alone. I hope everyone is enjoying themselves at the party. I miss them, even though we had a get-together not too long ago. Hatori was assigned to supervise them. I can imagine the bored look on his face. This brings a little laugh out of me. He has limited facial expressions. I think I know them all.
Stoic.
Worried/ticked off/impatient (usually with Shigure's antics but also when he arrived at the camp to save me).
Passionate. I've seen this once so far. It was dark, but I could make out the tightening of his brow, and the clenching of his jaw. It made my heart race.
Funny how he only has two extremes. There's no in-between for him. Same with our relationship. He's either satisfying my primal needs or barely acknowledging me. I have to be the insistent one. It's okay with me though. He's like the stray puppy my mom rescued when I was six. At first we thought it was an indifferent creature. But then we found out that it was afraid of us, he would jump if we pet him with him seeing us first. We realized that he had been terribly abused and that he feared us, believed that we would harm him. But with enough love and nurture, he became a happy puppy. He'd always greet me when I returned from school and snuggle near my feet when I fell asleep.
I hope Hatori will eventually reconcile with his past and become a happier person.
I'm sure he wasn't always like this. He wasn't born dour and self-sacrificing. At some point in his life, he must have had dreams, aspirations, selfish needs? How did Kana make him care? I find myself feeling somewhat jealous and angry when I think of her. She was his first love, and maybe his last. Even if it was against her own wishes, she gets to move on with her life. He doesn't.
I've always been the type to take on heavy emotional burdens. I can't help it. I feel like I'm a part of it all. From watching an angst-ridden, tear-inducing drama and feeling I'm the female character who has her heart ripped apart to bearing the emotional burden of Arisa and her ill-fated romance with Kureno. I'm a sponge for this kind of stuff.
I hear the doorbell ring downstairs. Shigure's not supposed to be back yet...?
I go downstairs to see who the unexpected guest is. It's Hatori. I take a deep breath and open the door.
"Hi Hatori."
"Hello."
He's fidgeting on the spot, holding a plastic wrapped glass bowl. He looks like a high school student with a crush. This thought makes me smile.
"I brought you some leftover cake. Kisa wanted me to bring it over."
Why can't he ever just say it was of his own will? He always tries to distance himself from me when he feels like we've gotten too close.
"Tell her thanks. Do you want to come in for something to drink? It's really hot out. You could get dehydrated."
"Hai, thank you."
He steps in and removes his shoes. His feet are clad in thick black socks. Go figure. This is really a case of cold feet...
I hear the soft pad of his feet against the wood as he follows me into the kitchen.
"How was the party?"
"It went smoothly. But they kept hinting that someone was missing. But I don't think Akito caught on that it was you."
I smile genuinely back at him. "How would you like some fresh watermelon juice."
"That would be great, thank you."
I take out the blender from the lower cabinet and take out a hefty watermelon from the refrigerator. I slice the thick-skinned melon, but now the knife is stuck in the rind like Excalibur. Seeing my frustration, he comes around the counter to help me. With an easy flick of his wrist, he's splices the fruit in half. "I'll do the rest."
I go to his seat and watch him. I recant my previous words that he was unskilled in the kitchen. He perfectly adept at using a knife. I imagine it's from his medical school training at a much more meticulous level. He partitions the melon into equal sized pieces. It makes my mouth water just watching him. I should always call him over when we have watermelon because Shigure is horrid at cutting, and I'm no better. He chops them up into the non-bite size chunks, many of which look like they've had a bite taken out of them.
After he cuts up the whole watermelon and we place them into the bowls, he picks up the rinds and eats the parts that are too close to the white layer. It reminds me of something my mom used to do. She'd always eat the "bad" or "neglected" parts of the fruit, and give me the best part. Like an apple. She'd eat the core and I'd eat everything around it. The fine details of love. After breaking out of my wistful memory, I join him. He looks back at me curiously.
/
A/N: 2.08.13 - Evil Akito! Tohru is really paying attention to Hatori!
You guys are adorable! It makes my heart aflutter when I hear that some of you were checking your inboxes!