Into the Night
The evening sky was painted in the combination of light yellow and pink as the sun settled under the buildings of Yoshidashinmachi, Kyoto. Kyoko finally reached Mikami's apartment and carefully parked her car. Today, was one of the few days she had off from the military base and she was supposed to have dinner with Mikami in his apartment. However, earlier in the day, he had called to inform her he had a high fever and he didn't want her to come because she might catch his cold.
Kyoko was hesitant, but gently insisted on coming anyway. She didn't know when she was going to be able to see him again and besides, she wanted to help him if she can. She stopped the engine, gathered the yellow roses and groceries she had bought on her way there, and walked out of her car.
She took the elevator and walked to a door with a sign next to it marked 1012 and "Mikami," underneath it. She pressed the door bell and less than a minute later, Mikami opened the door. He was paler than he usually was, and looked like he was in his sleepwear, a black t-shirt and pajama trousers. He held the door for her as she walked in and took her plastic grocery bags.
"Kyoko...so you came," he said.
"Teru..." Kyoko then answered, she was instantly concerned because he looked so unwell. She put down the flowers and Mikami put the groceries on the table.
Kyoko walked up to him, gently put her hand on the side of his face and asked, "Have you taken your temperature? D-do you feel any better since the last time we spoke?"
I feel much better now that you're here, Mikami thought to himself, but answered, "It's not as bad as it seems."
Kyoko gave a slight nod and said, "You can go lay down as I make dinner...You should take it easy." Kyoko was vaguely aware Mikami was the type to push himself too far, which was why she wanted to come over and make dinner for him.
Mikami met her eyes and thought about trying to stay awake to cook with her, but realized he was dizzy and too out of it. He simply gave her a nod and went back to his bedroom.
Kyoko first took a vase from the kitchen, filled it with water, and put in the flowers she brought for him. She then got to work: she cut the vegetables, placed a piece of kombu in the pot, and melted the miso into the boiling water. She then prepared the meat, broccolis, tomatoes, and cucumbers. After she was finished cooking, she arranged it as nicely as she could on the living room table. Kyoko sits on one of the chairs taking a break for a minute or two, she looks around and a picture held by a small, silver photo-holder catches her eye.
Kyoko goes over to the shelf, the photo holder was in front of a book titled, Political Economy of Japan in the Taisei Era. Now that she was closer to it, she can see the silver frame was designed with carved shapes of flowers. It held a picture of a smiling woman with white skin, medium-length black hair, bangs swept over to the side, and dark eyes. She looked so much like Mikami, Kyoko knew right away, thinking, this must be Teru's mother. The woman was breathtakingly beautiful as her son.
If I remember correctly, her name was Tokie, Kyoko thought to herself as she smiled at the picture and placed it back on the shelf. She knew once Mikami recovered from his cold, she was going to ask him to show her more pictures of his mother, and of his father as well—she wanted to see his whole family.
Kyoko decided it was time to let Mikami know dinner was ready. She went to his bedroom and was surprised to see he did not close the door—but then it occurred to her he must have kept it open in case something happened in the kitchen, he would go in to help her right away.
She was taken back by how large his bed was, it was too dark for her to see the rest of his room. She slowly walked in and went up to him, gently putting her hand on his shoulder covered by a blanket.
Kyoko said, "I've finished making dinner. Would you like to eat it now, or later?"
Mikami, who was half-awake, had to consider for a moment...He did not want to miss out eating supper with Kyoko but he felt too awful to get out of bed, furthermore, there was that risk of making her sick as well.
"I'll eat later," he said, his voice cracked from dryness and soar ness.
"Alright then." Kyoko responded, she then goes on to explain, "I've also brought you some medicine I find that works well for me when I get colds and some candy for your dry throat...I'll leave it next to the food."
As she was getting up, Mikami took her hand. Kyoko stopped immediately and turned back to him.
"Come lay down next to me."
Kyoko's cheeks went red, but as she stared at his unclear figure in the darkness, she felt too sorry for him to deny his request.
"I can only stay for about a few more minutes...but okay," she whispered. She then took her glasses off and crawled into the space next to Mikami, and laid beside him. Mikami put his arms around her and held her against him.
He wanted to keep her here with him, make love to her as he burned with desire. However, he knew it wouldn't be fair on his part. She didn't deserve to wind up catching his cold when she had generously come over to nurse him. So he did not try to stop her when, about 2-3 minutes later, she slipped out of the place in the bed next to him.
Kyoko put her hand on Mikami's cheek again, and this time she whispered, "I'll come visit you again sometime soon."
As Kyoko was walking out of the room, Mikami said, "Kyoko."
She stopped and looked back at him.
"Thank you," Mikami finished.
Kyoko blushed, embarrassed by his thanks, and responded, "Of course...Good night," as she closed his door.
Kyoko went back to his kitchen, put the lid over the pot of miso soup and put plastic wrap over the meat and vegetables. She put them all into the refrigerator and left his apartment. Mikami missed her already.
Author's Notes: Thank you for taking the time to read this! Please leave a like or comment if you enjoyed this. And in case you want to talk, I'm sakuranomai on Tumblr and sakuramaitweets on Twitter. Thank you! ^^