Chapter 4
Making Waves
~Dear Yuki,
How was the hot spring? Did you enjoy yourselves? I spent last night at Shigure's home. Akito and Hatori had to leave town so they had him watch me. I hate having a babysitter all the time. Although, I loved it there and I finally got to meet Kyou. I honestly can't see why everyone complains about him so much. He can be temperamental at times, but he was generally kind to me... but you don't want to hear that, do you? On another note, I'm having some trouble with Akito. We're getting along worse than usual and I'm not exactly sure what I can do about it. I keep getting this nagging feeling that I hurt him somehow, but it's hard to ignore all the times he's hurt me. Give my regards to Gure-san and Kyou.
Truly, Nami~
Upon the break of that following morning, Nami had set out to mail the letter. After that task was done, she walked right into the garden and stretched herself out on the side of the fountain. That was her favorite place. The skies were a bit dark and she hoped it wouldn't start raining. She felt cold but it didn't bother her so much.
"What is it about this fountain that you just can't get enough of?" Akito had appeared seemly from thin air.
"I'm not sure. I suppose it's because of the consistency of the water. By itself the water in the fountain always falls into the same place, making the same waves. Watch. When I put my hand in the water I can make it go another way." Nami turned to look at Akito as her hand swam in the water. He knelt down next to the fountain and rested his chin on his hand. If she hadn't known better, she would have sworn she saw him roll his eyes.
"Let me guess, I'm the water," he said to her, cynically. She nodded, somewhat surprised that he figured it out so quickly. "I hate to tell you this but it'll take more than a swish of your hand to change me."
"I'm well aware of that," she replied.
Akito chuckled. "Yes, I'm sure you are." He put his hand in the water and pulled it out again. "It's cold," he complained. Nami gave him a look as if trying to hint him to think about what he just said. His eyes moved back to the water and he chuckled. "Like me." He seemed to be taking the whole thing very lightly.
"Interesting," Nami simply commented.
"I'd apologize to you but you'd just think I'm lying," he told her and she sat up, frowning.
Her first intuition was to tell him that he's right, and that an apology would be absolutely useless in his case. She stopped herself for uncertain reasons. What was she doing? She had forgotten why she decided to stay in the first place. It wasn't because of the nice things he said to her, not even for the kiss. It was for the very purpose that she was working against now; for Akito himself. She had endured so much, and now that he's becoming more caring and human she turns away from him. Even if he did lie, he's done so much worse and she's forgiven him every time without even the need for apology.
She knelt down next to him and said, "Apology accepted."
"Don't get ahead of yourself; I didn't apologize yet. Besides, what makes you think I'm telling the truth?"
"It's better to accept the apology despite the probability that it's a lie than it is to shun it despite the tiny possibility that it's true." She reached for his hand and removed it from the water.
"You're so strange," he told her. She moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, moving her arm to rest on his other side. "And very brave," he added, somewhat taken by surprise.
"You won't hurt me now," she told him, confidently. She remembered the first time she got this close to Akito, not too long ago. He pulled away and locked her in a dark room for what seemed like eternity. She realized how things have changed. He hasn't yet learned to embrace her but at least he hasn't brutally thrown her against the concrete... again. He had even made some attempt, although pathetic, at an apology. It's a definite improvement.
"I'm glad you feel so comfortable," he told her somewhat cynically.
"Akito?" She said, wanting to change the subject for a moment. Something had been bothering her.
"Nani?" He responded, a bit annoyed with her.
"What you said about Kyou.. in the car.. you won't really do anything, right?"
Akito looked out past the garden and stayed silent for a moment. "I won't do anything at all," he replied innocently.
"Good. I was worried that something would happen when he came for the party," Nami confessed.
"That's nonsense. He doesn't come to the parties anyway," Akito replied.
"Why not?"
"You know the story of the Juunishi, don't you?"
"Hai, I see.. demo.. it's more of a family event than a Juunishi gathering, ne?"
"I suppose that's true, but he has this idea implanted into his mind that the only way he'll be accepted is if he wins a fight against Yuki- kun."
Nami thought about this for a moment. "Does that mean that if he came to the party, you would welcome him?"
"As much as I would welcome anyone else," Akito replied, giving the implication that he wasn't looking forward to the gathering at all, much less actually having to interact with these annoying people. He stood up, and begin walking away.
"Was that sincere?" Nami asked, pulling herself up onto the fountain side again.
"You know," he stopped and turned his head a bit, "I'm not exactly sure." He gracefully walked back inside.
Nami shivered a bit from a cold chill. She thought about going inside as well until she saw something moving on the ground. It was long and silver, and it slowly moved towards her. She knelt down on the ground again to get a better look at it. It was a snake, she was almost sure of it. It slithered towards her and stopped, then slithered some more. She crawled forward a little, on all fours, to meet it half way. She had never seen any snakes in this garden, and she found it even stranger that this one seemed to be intent on heading straight for her.
Only a foot or less away from her, the snake stretched its head up as far as it could and said, "Cold." It then collapsed completely onto the ground.
"Ayame-san," Nami said, partially to herself and partially to the fainted snake. She's heard of him from Shigure and Hatori so it wasn't a big surprise. She gathered him up and walked inside with him. Not exactly sure what to do with an sleeping snake, Nami took a hint and thought of how to make him warm. She grabbed a blanket off her bed and wrapped it around the snake. She then placed him on the bed and waited for something to happen. After several minutes of waiting for him to wake up, Nami got bored. She realized that he must have transformed somewhere on the estate and she decided to go looking for his clothes. He might need them when he wakes up.
Nami went back into the garden and walked towards the way that the snake came. She walked out of the garden and began making her way around the compound. Finally, she found herself at the gate and looked around for what to do next. A couple of feet to the right of the gate she saw something purple. As she made her way towards it, she realized it was a pile of clothes. They must be his. He had slithered a long way from the gate to the garden. No wonder he collapsed.
Nami made her way back to Akito's house. She entered the room to find Ayame back to his human form but not fully recuperated. He covered himself up with the blanket and shivered underneath.
"Ayame-san?" She said just to confirm his identity. "Are you alright?"
"You must be Nami! Hai, I'll be fine." He replied cheerfully, regardless of his obvious not cheerful situation.
"You know, I think I'll go get Hatori-san," Nami informed him and placed his clothes on a chair.
"Iie, no reason to disturb Tori-san! Right now I want to have a chat with the future Queen Persephone." Ayame winked.
"Queen Persephone?" Nami was a bit confused. She didn't exactly know what he meant by that.
"You know.. Pluto's wife, Queen to the devil." Ayame smiled a goofy smile.
"Very funny," she said sarcastically and added, "but you've got the wrong region. Not to mention the wrong idea. I'll let you get changed." She got up and left the room.
Nami leaned against the wall outside of her room. She blew a stray hair out of her eyes and thought about what Ayame could possibly want to talk to her about. She concluded that she was glad he came since she was beginning to worry that Akito would cut off all contact from the outside world.
"Ready!" Ayame stuck his head through the door. He walked out into the hallway and flipped his long hair forward. "Nami-kun, you and I are going on a date!" He took her hand and began skipping down the hall. "I'll take you to my store so that you can pick out a dress for the party! Ah, I just can't wait to dress you up!"
"Uh, Ayame-san?" She stopped following him and lowered her voice. "I can't go anywhere with you."
Ayame narrowed his eyes and whispered in her ear. "Nami-kun, I swear I'm not a registered sex offender. Really."
She laughed. "You're so much like Gure-san!"
"You thought he was a rapist, too? Well, I'm really not surprised..." Ayame said, seemingly serious.
"Iie, he just makes me laugh like you do." Nami smiled and went on. "I can't go with you, Ayame-san, because I'm not allowed to leave the compound."
"Nani..? B-but why?" Ayame seemed to be gravely disappointed by this. He pouted, and for a moment reminded her eerily of Yuki instead. Must be just her mind playing tricks on her.
"Don't do that look!" Nami asked of him and took his hand again. She led him to one of the larger family rooms and they sat down together.
"You poor thing!" Ayame suddenly exclaimed and knelt down in front of her. "You poor, poor thing!"
"Ayame-san, you really are making too much of this." Nami giggled nervously and waved her hand at him.
"You've been locked up in here like a caged bird all this time, all alone!" He made an entire scene of this.
"I take it back," Nami said, "you are MUCH more dramatic than Gure- san!"
Ayame finally sat back up and started behaving more seriously. "Nami- kun, let me ask you something. Does Akito trust you with anyone at all?"
Nami could see where he was going with this. "Hatori and Shigure."
"Wonderful! This couldn't have turned out better." Ayame assured her and clapped his hands. "I'll go get Tori-san right now! Stay right here and don't move!" He hurried out the door before she could protest.
Nami sat alone and waited for him. Quietly, a figure appeared in the room. He sat down in a chair next to hers and seemed not to pay attention to her presence.
"Akito-san.." she began but was suddenly struck by an unwelcoming feeling.
"What is it, Nami? You look as if you have something to say." He followed her actions with his eyes.
She smiled at him but became a bit nervous. "I know that we've already been through this but I thought it might be worth a try. I'd like to leave for a while today."
"Alone?" Akito said it as if the entire concept was absolutely absurd.
"Iie, not alone. Ayame visited today and wanted to take me out. I'm sure Hatori will agree to come with us. You know I can't run away with Hatori-san there." She tried to persuade him.
Akito remained silent for a moment. He sighed. "Hai. Go."
Nami smiled and beamed with happiness. He was really letting her leave! Even if it was just for a bit, it wasn't a trick because she knew she'd be coming back anyway. It was just a couple hours of casual, normal life. She stood up and something suddenly occurred to her. She was doing it again; trying to get away from him. It wasn't him that she wanted to escape. She wanted to leave this place and feel like there was another world besides it.
"Come with us," she told him and sat down on the edge of his chair.
"You know I can't do that," he told her seriously.
"Why won't you?"
"I'm sick, you know that very well."
"Not as sick as you were before. You're getting better!" She gasped, wanting to pull the words back.
"Better?" Akito seemed disgusted. "Baka. I don't get better.. ever. If you haven't figured that out yet.."
"You will," she said, not letting him finish the sentence for once. She took his hand, beckoning him to come with her.
Ayame and Hatori appeared in the doorway, watching. Hatori wanted to object, to tell Akito that he shouldn't have left his bed. Ayame covered his mouth before he could speak.
"Not all medicine is in a bottle, Tori-san," he whispered to him and moved his hand away from his mouth. Hatori sighed and watched. Neither Nami nor Akito were aware of their presence.
"You're being absurd. Leave before I change my mind."
"I want you to come with me," she persisted. She suddenly saw his expression change and felt his grip on her hand tighten. It hurt and she thought he was going to break her hand. He didn't speak for a moment as his grasp on her hand became increasingly more painful.
Ayame and Hatori were not fully aware of this happening or one of them would have surely stepped in. Nami shut her eyes and restrained her tears. Akito hasn't hurt her like this in a long time and she didn't know what she had done wrong.
"Does it hurt?" He whispered to her in a sadistic voice. She could only nod. "Do you want me to stop?" She nodded again and tightened the lids over her eyes. "Then leave." He released her hand and she pulled it away. Her first reaction was to run to Hatori and sob about what a horrible life she has here. He would then assure her that it's not as bad as it really seems and make all the pain go away with some cool, smooth words. Hatori was her escape but she wouldn't run away anymore.
"What's happening?" Ayame asked of Hatori, but he had no way to answer.
Nami stood in front of Akito, for a moment, watching his expression change. His angry eyes cooled but eventually reverted their attention back to her. Her heart pounded and her stomach twisted in knots at the thought of what she was about to do. She looked him in the eyes, and suddenly wrapped her arms around his waist.
"She's brave," Ayame commented. A silent alarm went off inside Hatori's mind, but he hardly let it show. This wasn't good, but there was nothing to do but let it all play out.
Akito didn't move, nor did he even seem to acknowledge what she was doing. Nami held on to him, eyes closed and praying he wouldn't kill her. With one swift move he pushed her down to the ground, and stood up over her. Still keeping every bit of his composure, he slapped her. Never has anyone hit her so relentlessly. It felt as if every part of his being wanted to hurt her. She cried out in, more in shock than pain and Hatori wasted no time running to her.
Akito casually stepped over her and walked past Hatori, to his bedroom. Nami picked herself up and rested her head on the side of the chair. Hatori knelt down next to her and tried to be as comforting as he knew how.
Ayame walked over to them, gracefully and calmly. "It'll be alright," he said softly and ran his fingers through her hair. "We'll go on our date some other time."
Nami knew she was escaping again, but she really couldn't help it this time. She had tried so hard and did everything in her power to stay strong. Her strength was gone for the day and she needed to hide in Hatori's collected manner and Ayame's soothing words.
Making Waves
~Dear Yuki,
How was the hot spring? Did you enjoy yourselves? I spent last night at Shigure's home. Akito and Hatori had to leave town so they had him watch me. I hate having a babysitter all the time. Although, I loved it there and I finally got to meet Kyou. I honestly can't see why everyone complains about him so much. He can be temperamental at times, but he was generally kind to me... but you don't want to hear that, do you? On another note, I'm having some trouble with Akito. We're getting along worse than usual and I'm not exactly sure what I can do about it. I keep getting this nagging feeling that I hurt him somehow, but it's hard to ignore all the times he's hurt me. Give my regards to Gure-san and Kyou.
Truly, Nami~
Upon the break of that following morning, Nami had set out to mail the letter. After that task was done, she walked right into the garden and stretched herself out on the side of the fountain. That was her favorite place. The skies were a bit dark and she hoped it wouldn't start raining. She felt cold but it didn't bother her so much.
"What is it about this fountain that you just can't get enough of?" Akito had appeared seemly from thin air.
"I'm not sure. I suppose it's because of the consistency of the water. By itself the water in the fountain always falls into the same place, making the same waves. Watch. When I put my hand in the water I can make it go another way." Nami turned to look at Akito as her hand swam in the water. He knelt down next to the fountain and rested his chin on his hand. If she hadn't known better, she would have sworn she saw him roll his eyes.
"Let me guess, I'm the water," he said to her, cynically. She nodded, somewhat surprised that he figured it out so quickly. "I hate to tell you this but it'll take more than a swish of your hand to change me."
"I'm well aware of that," she replied.
Akito chuckled. "Yes, I'm sure you are." He put his hand in the water and pulled it out again. "It's cold," he complained. Nami gave him a look as if trying to hint him to think about what he just said. His eyes moved back to the water and he chuckled. "Like me." He seemed to be taking the whole thing very lightly.
"Interesting," Nami simply commented.
"I'd apologize to you but you'd just think I'm lying," he told her and she sat up, frowning.
Her first intuition was to tell him that he's right, and that an apology would be absolutely useless in his case. She stopped herself for uncertain reasons. What was she doing? She had forgotten why she decided to stay in the first place. It wasn't because of the nice things he said to her, not even for the kiss. It was for the very purpose that she was working against now; for Akito himself. She had endured so much, and now that he's becoming more caring and human she turns away from him. Even if he did lie, he's done so much worse and she's forgiven him every time without even the need for apology.
She knelt down next to him and said, "Apology accepted."
"Don't get ahead of yourself; I didn't apologize yet. Besides, what makes you think I'm telling the truth?"
"It's better to accept the apology despite the probability that it's a lie than it is to shun it despite the tiny possibility that it's true." She reached for his hand and removed it from the water.
"You're so strange," he told her. She moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, moving her arm to rest on his other side. "And very brave," he added, somewhat taken by surprise.
"You won't hurt me now," she told him, confidently. She remembered the first time she got this close to Akito, not too long ago. He pulled away and locked her in a dark room for what seemed like eternity. She realized how things have changed. He hasn't yet learned to embrace her but at least he hasn't brutally thrown her against the concrete... again. He had even made some attempt, although pathetic, at an apology. It's a definite improvement.
"I'm glad you feel so comfortable," he told her somewhat cynically.
"Akito?" She said, wanting to change the subject for a moment. Something had been bothering her.
"Nani?" He responded, a bit annoyed with her.
"What you said about Kyou.. in the car.. you won't really do anything, right?"
Akito looked out past the garden and stayed silent for a moment. "I won't do anything at all," he replied innocently.
"Good. I was worried that something would happen when he came for the party," Nami confessed.
"That's nonsense. He doesn't come to the parties anyway," Akito replied.
"Why not?"
"You know the story of the Juunishi, don't you?"
"Hai, I see.. demo.. it's more of a family event than a Juunishi gathering, ne?"
"I suppose that's true, but he has this idea implanted into his mind that the only way he'll be accepted is if he wins a fight against Yuki- kun."
Nami thought about this for a moment. "Does that mean that if he came to the party, you would welcome him?"
"As much as I would welcome anyone else," Akito replied, giving the implication that he wasn't looking forward to the gathering at all, much less actually having to interact with these annoying people. He stood up, and begin walking away.
"Was that sincere?" Nami asked, pulling herself up onto the fountain side again.
"You know," he stopped and turned his head a bit, "I'm not exactly sure." He gracefully walked back inside.
Nami shivered a bit from a cold chill. She thought about going inside as well until she saw something moving on the ground. It was long and silver, and it slowly moved towards her. She knelt down on the ground again to get a better look at it. It was a snake, she was almost sure of it. It slithered towards her and stopped, then slithered some more. She crawled forward a little, on all fours, to meet it half way. She had never seen any snakes in this garden, and she found it even stranger that this one seemed to be intent on heading straight for her.
Only a foot or less away from her, the snake stretched its head up as far as it could and said, "Cold." It then collapsed completely onto the ground.
"Ayame-san," Nami said, partially to herself and partially to the fainted snake. She's heard of him from Shigure and Hatori so it wasn't a big surprise. She gathered him up and walked inside with him. Not exactly sure what to do with an sleeping snake, Nami took a hint and thought of how to make him warm. She grabbed a blanket off her bed and wrapped it around the snake. She then placed him on the bed and waited for something to happen. After several minutes of waiting for him to wake up, Nami got bored. She realized that he must have transformed somewhere on the estate and she decided to go looking for his clothes. He might need them when he wakes up.
Nami went back into the garden and walked towards the way that the snake came. She walked out of the garden and began making her way around the compound. Finally, she found herself at the gate and looked around for what to do next. A couple of feet to the right of the gate she saw something purple. As she made her way towards it, she realized it was a pile of clothes. They must be his. He had slithered a long way from the gate to the garden. No wonder he collapsed.
Nami made her way back to Akito's house. She entered the room to find Ayame back to his human form but not fully recuperated. He covered himself up with the blanket and shivered underneath.
"Ayame-san?" She said just to confirm his identity. "Are you alright?"
"You must be Nami! Hai, I'll be fine." He replied cheerfully, regardless of his obvious not cheerful situation.
"You know, I think I'll go get Hatori-san," Nami informed him and placed his clothes on a chair.
"Iie, no reason to disturb Tori-san! Right now I want to have a chat with the future Queen Persephone." Ayame winked.
"Queen Persephone?" Nami was a bit confused. She didn't exactly know what he meant by that.
"You know.. Pluto's wife, Queen to the devil." Ayame smiled a goofy smile.
"Very funny," she said sarcastically and added, "but you've got the wrong region. Not to mention the wrong idea. I'll let you get changed." She got up and left the room.
Nami leaned against the wall outside of her room. She blew a stray hair out of her eyes and thought about what Ayame could possibly want to talk to her about. She concluded that she was glad he came since she was beginning to worry that Akito would cut off all contact from the outside world.
"Ready!" Ayame stuck his head through the door. He walked out into the hallway and flipped his long hair forward. "Nami-kun, you and I are going on a date!" He took her hand and began skipping down the hall. "I'll take you to my store so that you can pick out a dress for the party! Ah, I just can't wait to dress you up!"
"Uh, Ayame-san?" She stopped following him and lowered her voice. "I can't go anywhere with you."
Ayame narrowed his eyes and whispered in her ear. "Nami-kun, I swear I'm not a registered sex offender. Really."
She laughed. "You're so much like Gure-san!"
"You thought he was a rapist, too? Well, I'm really not surprised..." Ayame said, seemingly serious.
"Iie, he just makes me laugh like you do." Nami smiled and went on. "I can't go with you, Ayame-san, because I'm not allowed to leave the compound."
"Nani..? B-but why?" Ayame seemed to be gravely disappointed by this. He pouted, and for a moment reminded her eerily of Yuki instead. Must be just her mind playing tricks on her.
"Don't do that look!" Nami asked of him and took his hand again. She led him to one of the larger family rooms and they sat down together.
"You poor thing!" Ayame suddenly exclaimed and knelt down in front of her. "You poor, poor thing!"
"Ayame-san, you really are making too much of this." Nami giggled nervously and waved her hand at him.
"You've been locked up in here like a caged bird all this time, all alone!" He made an entire scene of this.
"I take it back," Nami said, "you are MUCH more dramatic than Gure- san!"
Ayame finally sat back up and started behaving more seriously. "Nami- kun, let me ask you something. Does Akito trust you with anyone at all?"
Nami could see where he was going with this. "Hatori and Shigure."
"Wonderful! This couldn't have turned out better." Ayame assured her and clapped his hands. "I'll go get Tori-san right now! Stay right here and don't move!" He hurried out the door before she could protest.
Nami sat alone and waited for him. Quietly, a figure appeared in the room. He sat down in a chair next to hers and seemed not to pay attention to her presence.
"Akito-san.." she began but was suddenly struck by an unwelcoming feeling.
"What is it, Nami? You look as if you have something to say." He followed her actions with his eyes.
She smiled at him but became a bit nervous. "I know that we've already been through this but I thought it might be worth a try. I'd like to leave for a while today."
"Alone?" Akito said it as if the entire concept was absolutely absurd.
"Iie, not alone. Ayame visited today and wanted to take me out. I'm sure Hatori will agree to come with us. You know I can't run away with Hatori-san there." She tried to persuade him.
Akito remained silent for a moment. He sighed. "Hai. Go."
Nami smiled and beamed with happiness. He was really letting her leave! Even if it was just for a bit, it wasn't a trick because she knew she'd be coming back anyway. It was just a couple hours of casual, normal life. She stood up and something suddenly occurred to her. She was doing it again; trying to get away from him. It wasn't him that she wanted to escape. She wanted to leave this place and feel like there was another world besides it.
"Come with us," she told him and sat down on the edge of his chair.
"You know I can't do that," he told her seriously.
"Why won't you?"
"I'm sick, you know that very well."
"Not as sick as you were before. You're getting better!" She gasped, wanting to pull the words back.
"Better?" Akito seemed disgusted. "Baka. I don't get better.. ever. If you haven't figured that out yet.."
"You will," she said, not letting him finish the sentence for once. She took his hand, beckoning him to come with her.
Ayame and Hatori appeared in the doorway, watching. Hatori wanted to object, to tell Akito that he shouldn't have left his bed. Ayame covered his mouth before he could speak.
"Not all medicine is in a bottle, Tori-san," he whispered to him and moved his hand away from his mouth. Hatori sighed and watched. Neither Nami nor Akito were aware of their presence.
"You're being absurd. Leave before I change my mind."
"I want you to come with me," she persisted. She suddenly saw his expression change and felt his grip on her hand tighten. It hurt and she thought he was going to break her hand. He didn't speak for a moment as his grasp on her hand became increasingly more painful.
Ayame and Hatori were not fully aware of this happening or one of them would have surely stepped in. Nami shut her eyes and restrained her tears. Akito hasn't hurt her like this in a long time and she didn't know what she had done wrong.
"Does it hurt?" He whispered to her in a sadistic voice. She could only nod. "Do you want me to stop?" She nodded again and tightened the lids over her eyes. "Then leave." He released her hand and she pulled it away. Her first reaction was to run to Hatori and sob about what a horrible life she has here. He would then assure her that it's not as bad as it really seems and make all the pain go away with some cool, smooth words. Hatori was her escape but she wouldn't run away anymore.
"What's happening?" Ayame asked of Hatori, but he had no way to answer.
Nami stood in front of Akito, for a moment, watching his expression change. His angry eyes cooled but eventually reverted their attention back to her. Her heart pounded and her stomach twisted in knots at the thought of what she was about to do. She looked him in the eyes, and suddenly wrapped her arms around his waist.
"She's brave," Ayame commented. A silent alarm went off inside Hatori's mind, but he hardly let it show. This wasn't good, but there was nothing to do but let it all play out.
Akito didn't move, nor did he even seem to acknowledge what she was doing. Nami held on to him, eyes closed and praying he wouldn't kill her. With one swift move he pushed her down to the ground, and stood up over her. Still keeping every bit of his composure, he slapped her. Never has anyone hit her so relentlessly. It felt as if every part of his being wanted to hurt her. She cried out in, more in shock than pain and Hatori wasted no time running to her.
Akito casually stepped over her and walked past Hatori, to his bedroom. Nami picked herself up and rested her head on the side of the chair. Hatori knelt down next to her and tried to be as comforting as he knew how.
Ayame walked over to them, gracefully and calmly. "It'll be alright," he said softly and ran his fingers through her hair. "We'll go on our date some other time."
Nami knew she was escaping again, but she really couldn't help it this time. She had tried so hard and did everything in her power to stay strong. Her strength was gone for the day and she needed to hide in Hatori's collected manner and Ayame's soothing words.