Kotatsu : an often wooden, low table that some people in japan eat on while sitting on the floor (sometimes with a sheet or heavy cover covering it)
Disclaimer : Brothers conflict does not in any shape or form belong to me, but please keep in mind that the character of Hanako Hinata does.
(Edited 04/12/2020)
Hanako groaned as the sun hit her closed eyelids, turning around to hide her face in the covers.
Her head hurt like hell and she was pretty sure her hair looked like a bird's nest, despite not seeing it at the moment. The bed being way too comfortable for her to get out of it, the girl sunk in the comfort of soft sheets and fluffy pillows.
Then her eyes opened to blink a few times as her hazy brain seemed to register details of her surroundings.
Those covers felt different from her usual ones, had Ukyo changed them without her noticing? And what in the world was that smell of expensive cologne and...cinnamon?
Her plum colored orbs snapped wide open, losing that cloudy edge, as she quickly sat upon the bed that was not hers. "Oh shit"
This was why she rarely drank, waking up in some unknown bed was not exactly her cup of tea. Cursing under her breath, Hanako looked down at herself noticing that she still was in her dress, jacket on a nearby chair as well as her purse, eliminating the possibility of a hookup.
Well...I guess, why would I still be wearing it otherwise? Unless he had a thing for the dress-
Standing up quietly while fighting off her headache and the urge to return in the warmth of the covers, she looked around the empty room. The place looked tidy enough, cream-colored walls and messy green sheets on the bed. Feeling somewhat guilty for imposing, Hanako tidied up the bed.
Before realizing he would probably change it anyways, questionable activities or not. Wait. That is a boy's room right? Green is a rather unisex color-
Thankfully all of her things were still in the bag, not a dollar missing from her wallet and her dead phone intact. Thankfully she hadn't brought any cards with her, and she doubted anyone was interested in her Mcdonald's gift card she always had in there.
"Where the fuck are my shoes..?" Hanako quietly searched for her beloved heeled boots she distinctly remembered wearing last night. Her memory actually was not that bad, everything being clear in her head until very late at night where she knew she took far too much drinks.
What bothered her was what happened after that, everything seemed to be fuzzy and unclear. She remembered smoking, talking with someone for a bit and...
Oh shit, she kissed that guy didn't she? What's his name again?
She clearly wasn't at Lilly or Kaho's place, but she couldn't remember who she could have went home with. Some of her old friends from high school perhaps? No the room seemed to be a man's and while her detective skills weren't anything to brag, Hanako was pretty sure it was the guy she was kissing last night. The one with the eye-catching ginger hair.
Please don't be creepy, or worse have a girlfriend. No wait, creepy is worse...is it?
Tightly clutching her jacket to her chest, Hanako quietly exited the room leading to a cozy looking apartment, the scent of eggs and bacon greeting her. A rather tall man being in the kitchen next to her. She tried to be somewhat sneaky, slowly walking to the door a few steps away from her, past the kitchen.
Her gaze suddenly meeting a pair of sharp yellow eyes. Hanako froze, slowly raising a shaky finger to her lips in a silent 'shh' motion. The feline tilted it's head to the side, observing her curiously. She slowly moved towards the door the cat was standing in front of, her gaze never leaving the animal, willing it to stay quiet.
Her lips widened into a victorious smile as her hand found the door handle, she swore she saw a smirk forming on the cat's lips as it... let out a loud strangled kind of noise that barely could be considered a mewl.
Hanako felt so terribly betrayed and wronged, and yet the damned feline had the audacity to walk up to her to rub it's furry head on her leg.
"Ah, so you're awake."
"Eep!" She turned around with a startled yelp, wielding the nearest thing which happened to be her dead cellphone like a weapon.
"Easy there tiger, how about you drop that and come eat breakfast." He raised a brow curiously, her agitated figure dropping in both confusion and apprehension.
"I-I...what happened last night?" He did not seem surprised one bit and instead gave half a smile.
"You drank too much and you fell asleep before you could tell me your address so I brought you here. Don't worry, I slept on the couch."
"You did?" The hand holding the supposed weapon dropped as guilt began eating at her. " Oh my god, I am so sorry. You didn't have to, should've dropped me on the sofa or left me at the bar or something-"
Obviously I'm glad about it, but I can't believe I was such a bother, her thoughts couldn't stop rushing, messy and still somewhat hazy with sleep.
"It's fine," he cut her off. "By the way, want some aspirins?" That was totally a way to tell her that she looked and probably sounded completely crazy, wasn't it?
"God yes." Her head was killing her and her breath still smelled like alcohol. The man dubbed 'handsome stranger' gave her the pills as she awkwardly sat down on one side of his kotatsu.
"...Is there a possibility your cat tends to play with people's stuff?" Her cheeks reddened as he stared at her like she just told him she came from Mars and ate people for fun. "Out of all things you could have asked, you ask about my cat?"
The fact that he almost looked insulted, in that confused sort of way, shouldn't have been as endearing as she pictured it.
"I'm still a bit bitter about him-or she, ruining my escape I guess? And I can't find the boots I was wearing yesterday so I just assumed..." He chuckled lowly, putting down a plate of a delicious looking breakfast.
Toasts and eggs had never looked so heavenly, she was starving.
Oh, is that coffee? It totally is isn't it?
"You broke one of them last night actually so you left them somewhere outside before I brought you here." Hanako's heart literally crushed on itself at the news, those were her favorites, "That, ah that really sucks I lov-...ed those things. I didn't do anything too bad did I? God I feel like such a mess, what time is it?"
"Close to ten thirty, and trust me you weren't the only one wasted, I saw worse." She gratefully ate the food he offered her, this man was a godsent. "Still probably not my best first impression, I'm so sorry for everything um... I'm sorry I don't even remember your name."
She groaned, eyes falling to her almost finished eggs and toasts. That was embarrassing.
"I actually didn't tell you so it's fine. I'm Natsume." Seriously? What had she been thinking? "No last name?" She tried to be playful about it, wondering how the fuck she could've ended up in this situation without even knowing the man's name.
"I think we're on first name basis by now." He gave her a slightly reserved smirk that she returned. "Well then Natsume it's very nice to meet you, I'm Hanako."
"Huh, me who thought I would never get a name." She cracked a smile, finding him particularly nice and easy to get along with despite the circumstances. "Well now you got one, along with my eternal gratitude."
"Didn't I tell you it was fine?" Natsume watched in bewilderment as the girl rose from her seat, empty plate in hand. "Huh? What are you..?" He blinked as she used his sink like it was her own to clean the plate and fork she had used, a few steps away from the table.
Contrary to popular belief, he didn't make a habit of using his mother's money. Which meant his mildly cheap 1-bedroom apartment, with the crazy cats and the whole living/dining room combo that included his tiny table practically touching his sofa.
(the real issue lied in the number of times he tripped on either of them when he didn't walk carefully enough, which then led to painfully stubbed toes and the old lady living on the floor under his complaining despite the fact that she supposedly didn't hear him talking 75% of the time-)
Clearly Fuuto got the spoiled brat thing for the two of them.
Still better than Hikaru's dump of a living space at least, not only was the place a mess, but the neighborhood not the most welcoming of places-
Right, the cute girl in his apartment was doing the dishes for some reason, he needed to get his head in the game. (curse his brothers and their way of invading his thoughts and making his daily life a living hell even after him moving out-)
"Do you always act this way when you wake up in an unknown place with a stranger?" He let his eyes roam her figure, from the messed up mascara to her crooked dress. She looked ridiculous, yet somehow still attractive.
"Believe it or not it doesn't happen to me that often actually." She laughed somewhat nervously and Natsume watched her with amusement as she began to clean the rest of his dishes from yesterday, her foot twitching nervously. "I'm trying not to make this awkward since I don't know what to say - not that I'm ungrateful or anything!.. and now I'm babbling."
"You are." She tried not to drop anything as she gently dried everything before turning to cast him a reproachful look. "Cleaning helps me relax, takes my mind off things... this amuses you doesn't it?"
So they were just going to avoid the whole 'kissing thing'? Did he think she didn't remember? Did she even want him to bring it up?
"A little I'll admit." He let out a smirk, this girl always seemed to chase out his usual serious attitude away. "Stop mocking me and tell me where to put these." She gestured to all the dry dishes on his dish drying mat.
"I'm not, I swear. The utensils in the drawer next to the sink and the plates and bowls in the cabinet above your head." She absentmindedly nodded as she placed everything where they needed to be.
"Liar, you're laughing!" She accused, turning around when she heard a soft choked kind of laughing sound from behind her.
"Maybe I should keep you around, I'll never have to worry about cleaning this place ever again." The girl blew away a piece of hair sticking to her forehead. Natsume sighed as he stood up to help her with what was left of the clean dishes.
"You should sit, this is still my place isn't it?" When she continued to replace things he grabbed her gently by the arm to sit her down, almost like a child. "Sorry."
"Stop apologizing will you? You didn't do anything wrong, by the way not to rush you or anything, but it's already midday." Her mouth dropped into a gasp, the older man watching in amusement as a particularly vulgar cuss left her mouth.
"I really wouldn't want to impose more than I've already have but do you think I could use your-..." Her predictable question was interrupted by Natsume waving his phone jokingly under her nose. "I swear you're my new favorite person in the whole world."
"Flattered." Hanako immediately phoned Ema, her number etched into memory. "Hello, little sister how are you doing on this fair morning?"
"Hanako?.. God I swear I almost had a heart attack! You weren't answering and the girls had no idea where you were, I was so worried! Not to mention a certain older brother who has a few choice words to say to you!" Hanako rubbed the back of her neck guiltily, Natsume wincing at the sudden loud voice coming from the phone.
"Yeah sorry, my phone died and plans changed... tell the others I'm fine please and do you think you could text the girls for me? Tell them I'm still in one piece and that I'd like to stay that way no matter how much Kaho is mad at me at the moment..." Ema seemed to say something to someone else that she guessed was Ukyo.
"I hate you." Ema sighed, without any actual anger thankfully. "You know you don't, I should be home in a few hours max. Love you."
"Wait Hana-nee by the way whose phone is this?" That story, Hanako decided, is for another day. "A friend, I'll see you soon!" She then handed the phone back with her most grateful smile. "Thank you, truly."
"Sure, anytime, so... your sister huh?" Hanako nodded, licking her dry lips. "Yup, the one true love of my life."
"Sweet," he rolled his eyes, the amusement dancing in them hitting a ray of sunshine coming from the open window. "Huh. You have really pretty eyes you know." Natsume raised a brow at her and from the other side of the table she could see his muscles twitching a bit, like he was repressing laughter.
Great, she was making a fool out of herself again, wasn't she?
"Are you flirting with me? Right after declaring your unconditional love for you sister, how scandalous." she gave him a dry look, "I thought girls were supposed to be the dramatic ones."
"I've never beem one for stereotypes." They both held eye contact for a few seconds before they both burst out of laughing. Conversation came easily, almost like they had known each other for years and he let her use his bathroom to clean up a bit (she suspects it's because of the smell and racoon eyes instead of chivalry)
"Want me to walk you to the closest bus station? I would have given you a ride home, but I'm actually meeting my brother in half an hour, you woke up later than I thought you would." He rubbed his neck, a bit of color dusting his cheeks.
She didn't mention they spent almost two hours talking around the table, fooling around for quite awhile.
"That'd be nice." Once they realised she didn't have any footwear to put on, Natsume pulled out a pair of women's shoes from his closet. "Here, these should fit you."
"Should I be worried you have women's clothing around your apartment?" Hanako teased while putting on the pair that was only a size bigger then what she usually wore.
"Drop the attitude..." He crossed his arms, slightly embarrassed. "They're my mother's." Hanako stopped giggling immediately, preparing to take off the shoes.
"I can't take these-" Natsume rolled his eyes, something he seemed to be doing a lot more in her presence. "Take them, she's never really around and she's a fashion designer. She won't mind I promise."
"Still, they're way too expensive for me to keep." She looked at the quality white heels that she hadn't yet fastened, already knowing they weren't exactly in her usual price range. Natsume stopped her from taking them off, gently grabbing her wrist. "I told you it's fine, I mean it." He helped her tie the fancy shoes much to her growing embarrassement.
"What am I, a child?" Or your newest charity case..?
Holding her ankle still to fasten the heel, he met her eyes. "Difficult to see you as anything other than a woman." She was not blushing, she was not. "I thought children were meant to be cute after all."
"How mean!" She faked a hurt gasp, clutching the spot over her heart dramatically. "You wound me Natsume, really!" His lips quirked a bit as he got up helping her to do the same, the heels making the height gap between the two less noticeable. "I'm sure."
The closest bus station was only five minutes away, down the street in front of a cute coffee shop. Perhaps she could try it sometimes, Hanako mused briefly.
"You don't have to wait with me, you know?" She commented, the bus stop practically unoccupied at this hour they had taken seat on a bench the sunlight warming their skin. "I still have a bit of time and the bus should be here in three or four minutes...or are you just eager to get rid of me?"
"Well you've been awfully cheeky..." She pretended to think it over, her lips pursed and Natsume gave a deep chuckle, this kind of playful bantering would never get old.
"We both know you don't mind." Would it be improper to ask for his number?
'Cause she was certainly considering it, this charming not-stranger anymore had certainly caught her interest with their shared passion for barely sugared coffee and the devil-cats that roamed his apartment.
Yes, there was two of them it seemed. The horror.
Sadly, the bus arrived before she could gain the courage to do so. A handshake would have been too serious, a hug too casual so she settled with giving his shoulder a light squeeze with her best smile.
"I really can't thank you enough for what you did." Natsume briefly considered hitting her behind the head, instead he simply sighed. "The circumstances may have been... unusual, but I do hope to see you again."
"Who knows, this town's not that big." Even once seated inside the bus, her gaze never left Natsume's retreating form, a fond smile on her lips.