The Secret Juunishi
Or
How to Mary Sue Yourself and Your Friend into Fruits Basket
by secretjuunishi
-
Fandom: Fruits Basket
Spoilers: for the anime only, although I do mention the name of a Juunishi that is mentioned in the manga
Rating: PG-13 (for now)
Pairing: Mary x Hatori, Sue x Shigure
Genre: Humor/Romance/Angst/Drama
Disclaimer: I don't own them...I'm just borrowing them. Hail to Takaya Natsuki.
Summary: Mary Smith and Sue Jones end up in the Fruits Basket universe and they have *secrets.* *spooky music* Mary/Hatori, Sue/Shigure.
Author's Note: To compensate for the last chapter, which was so short, I present...a longer one.
-
Chapter 6 of ?
-
Sunday morning dawned, casting its rays annoyingly into Mary's eyes. She and Sue were curled up on the floor of the living room, having cried themselves to sleep the previous night. Mary sat up and winced. Sleeping on the floor was not the most comfortable of things. Carefully, she tucked the blanket she'd pulled from the couch around Sue's sleeping form and slowly stood, remembering not to put too much weight on her injured foot.
Unconsciously, her head turned toward the coffee table where her eyes set upon Hatori's card. Mary grabbed the card and stared at it. Professional lettering and wording. No cheesy slogan or image to mar the surface. Mary smiled softly, remembering the kindness the good doctor had shown toward her.
Slowly, she made her way to her bedroom and flopped on her bed. And that's how Sue found her a little while later, dozing with a small smile on her face, still clutching Hatori's card in her hand.
Sue grinned.
Mary opened her eyes slowly, surprised she'd fallen asleep again. She was aware of a pair of eyes staring at her with a distinct air of amusement.
"What?" she asked.
"Have nice Hatori dreams?" Sue teased.
Despite all her efforts, Mary blushed. "Not especially, no. Why do you ask?"
Sue pointed to Mary's hand. Wherein she was mortified to see she was holding Hatori's business card.
"I'm such a fangirl," Mary bemoaned.
Sue giggled.
"Should I buy you a frame to put it in so it doesn't get worn?" Sue continued to tease.
"No, but you can go and buy more donuts. I think we're out," Mary said, stretching.
"What? We're out of donuts?!" Sue looked frantic. She ran to the kitchen and began making a list of things to buy.
"Anything else you want?" she called.
"I don't think so," Mary said.
"Ok," Sue said, slightly breathless. "I think I got everything. I'm off!"
"Come back soon!" Mary yelled, grinning as she heard the door slam. She flopped back on her bed, after carefully putting Hatori's card on the nightstand, and promptly fell asleep again.
+
Sue hummed as she strolled down the street. The day was turning out to be yet another beautiful one. It was neither too hot nor too cold, just the way she liked it. She entered the local store, grabbed a basket, and immediately started filling it. Donuts first, of course.
As she searched the fruit section for strawberries for Mary, she heard a familiar voice.
"Sue-san!"
Sue immediately melted.
"Momiji-chan!"
The two embraced warmly, eliciting smiles from those around them.
"What are you doing here?" Sue asked.
"I'm buying supplies!" He said, holding up his basket. It was filled with all manner of things: construction paper, glue, glitter, markers, scissors, etc.
"Supplies for what?" She couldn't stop grinning.
"I'm making a 'Get Well' card for Mary-san!" Momiji exclaimed.
"You are so sweet!" Sue nearly screamed. Instead, she grabbed Momiji and hugged him tight once more.
"Would you help me with the card?" Momiji asked.
"Of course. I'm almost done," Sue said, her smile threatening to split her face in two.
The pair exited the store with their purchases and found a spot under a shady tree where they could make Mary's card. Sue and Momiji nibbled on a donut while they worked, drawing butterflies and outlining them with glitter. Momiji also drew several bunnies and smilie faces just to make sure Mary would be happy when she saw the card.
"Do you think she'll like it?" Momiji asked, a hopeful look on his face.
"She'll love it," Sue assured.
"Um..."
Sue tilted her head, encouraging Momiji to continue.
"Would it be ok if I came over and delivered the card now?" he asked, hopping from foot to foot.
"Absolutely!" Sue said, clapping her hands with joy.
"Yay!" Momiji said, a huge grin on his face.
Sue held her hand out to Momiji and the pair skipped off toward Mary's apartment, hand in hand.
+
"I'm home!" Sue called as she entered the apartment.
Mary was sitting on the couch and turned toward the doorway with a smile on her face. "Welcome ho- Momiji-kun!"
Mary instantly felt a thousand times happier and the room seemed a thousand times brighter. Amazing what an extremely happy kid can do for a place.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, a huge grin on her face. She noticed Sue was also grinning like a maniac.
"I made you a card!" Momiji exclaimed and ran toward her.
"Aww, you are so sweet, Momiji-kun," Mary said, catching the boy and hugging him close. Sue was right, he was addictive to hug. "Thank you so much."
"Sue-san helped me with it!"
Mary opened the card and grinned even wider, if that was possible.
"This is the best 'Get Well' card I've ever gotten, Momiji-kun. Thank you again," Mary gushed.
Momiji hugged her again. "I'm glad. Is your foot all better, now?"
"Not quite, but almost," Mary admitted. "It's just something that will take a little time to heal."
"What are you going to do tomorrow?" Momiji asked, clearly concerned. "You have to go to work, don't you?"
Mary smiled. "Luckily, I can do my work from home, so I can stay off my foot like Hatori-sensei suggested."
Momiji bit his lip and nodded, still not convinced.
"Don't worry about me, Momiji-kun," Mary reassured. "I'll be fine. Especially since Hatori-sensei helped me so much yesterday!"
Sue, who'd been putting the groceries away, leered at Mary, who chose to ignore it.
Momiji scooted off Mary's lap. "I have to go now, I'm sorry," he said, smile faltering. "I promised Ha'ri-san I'd only be gone an hour and it's almost an hour."
"Do you want me to walk you home?" Sue offered, clearly not willing to let the cute boy go just yet.
"It's ok, Sue-san," he replied, smiling at her brightly. Sue melted, again. "I can make it by myself!"
"Ok," Sue said reluctantly. "But be careful!"
"I will!" Momiji agreed before hugging Sue again. "And I hope your foot feels better very soon, Mary-san!"
"Uhn!" Mary agreed.
The pair watched as Momiji exited their apartment, bright smiles and all. The door closed and the room suddenly seemed darker.
"My face hurts," Mary remarked.
"Me, too, but strangely, I don't care," Sue said. They stared at each other with semi-permanent smiles in place.
The rest of the day passed peacefully and in a boring fashion. Sue spent most of the early evening going over the homework she had to turn in the next day. Mary helped when she could but spent most of the time practicing her drawing.
"Jawlines suck," Mary muttered randomly.
"Draw Hatori's," Sue replied.
Mary ignored her. She erased the line and tried again.
"Or better yet, draw naked Hatori."
A big, thick, jagged line ended up all over Mary's paper. She sighed and turned to a new page.
The next morning came all too soon and Sue dragged herself out of bed at an unnatural hour. Mary was already up, having showered and gotten breakfast ready.
"Coffee...need...coffee," Sue mumbled in a zombie-like state.
Mary pointed to the table where Sue's meal was already laid out: mug of coffee and donuts. Sue inhaled the meal and immediately felt better.
"What are you doing up?" Sue asked. "You don't have to go to work today."
Mary gave Sue a side-long glance. "I may not have to actually physically go to work, but I still have to do work."
"Hff!"
"I called my manager and let him know that I wouldn't be coming in today and possibly tomorrow. No problem, but I do have a teleconference I need to listen in on in about half an hour," Mary explained. "At least I can do that in my pajamas."
Sue grinned. "You could do it naked, too."
Mary snickered. "Go get ready. You'll be late."
Some minutes later, Sue emerged, freshly showered and dressed in her school uniform.
"How do I look?" Sue asked, posing.
"Cute as ever," Mary said, winking.
"You rock," Sue said, hugging her cousin. "Be good to your foot." Sue paused. "Or not...then you could call Hatori and have him play doctor on you."
"Go!" Mary scolded, laughing.
"Be back this afternoon," Sue said and waved goodbye.
"Be safe...and be good!" Mary called.
A half hour later found Mary lazing on the couch, still in pajamas, but with a notebook in hand and a phone to her ear. She idly drew in the notebook as she listened in on a completely boring meeting. She had, maybe, all of two sentences to add to the conversation, but she didn't mind. An hour and a sore ear later, the call finally ended and Mary was free to finish her work for the day whenever she wanted. She stared at her notebook with a funny look on her face.
"Man, he's really on my mind," she said aloud.
Mary had scribbled Hatori's name all over the page in hiragana and katakana. She'd even gone as far as trying to draw him, but she knew she had some of the proportions wrong. Maybe she could get him to pose one day.
"Yeah, right," Mary thought. "If Sue knew I was thinking that she'd suggest I get him to pose nude."
Tossing the notebook aside, Mary set to work. She'd rather get it out of the way now so she could relax for the rest of the day than have it sitting around anyway. Two hours passed and Mary, engrossed in her work, didn't notice until her stomach started to complain. Amazed at the passage of time, Mary quickly finished up the rest of her task, saved it, and set to making some food.
Mary was in the kitchen slicing strawberries when a knock sounded on the door. She munched on a strawberry as she made her way to the door, curious who her mid-day visitor was. She peeked out the peep hole and immediately wished she were wearing more clothing.
"Um, just a moment," she called frantically.
There, outside her door, right now, was Hatori. It would take too long to hobble back to her room and grab a robe and get back, but at the same time she was feeling incredibly self-conscious at the moment.
"Oh, Hell," she thought and threw open the door.
"Souma-sensei," she greeted and bowed. "This is a surprise."
Hatori's eyes widened slightly at Mary's attire.
"I apologize for the...uh...lack of...clothes," Mary stammered, feeling extremely stupid.
"I should apologize. I should have called," Hatori managed.
Truth be told, he was quite pleased. She was wearing an oversized men's dress shirt that came down to about mid-thigh. Granted, the previous day her shorts came down to about that length, too, but somehow this was different. Much different.
Mary smiled brightly. "Come in, please," she invited, gesturing with the remains of a strawberry.
"Thank you," he said, and bowed to her before entering and removing his shoes.
"What brings you by?" Mary asked, curious.
"Momiji told me you would be working from home today," Hatori started. "And he made me promise I would come and check on you." Hatori gave Mary a slight smile.
"Momiji-kun is so cute and very sweet to be so concerned about me," Mary remarked. "And you're very sweet, too, for taking time out of your schedule to actually come see me."
Hatori ducked his head in embarrassment, covering it up by placing his bag on the ground next to the couch.
"I did promise," Hatori explained. "But I was also curious. More so when Momiji reported you were still having trouble with your ankle."
"Oh," Mary said. "Well, thank you very much for your concern."
"Man, that sounds so stupid," Mary thought to herself.
"Lunch?" Hatori asked, nodding toward the strawberry still in Mary's hand.
"Uhn," Mary replied, popping it into her mouth. "Would you like some? I was just making lunch."
"I'm fine, thank you," Hatori said distractedly. He'd unconsciously watched closely as Mary ate the last of the strawberry, noticing the little droplets of juice still on her fingers.
"Please, make yourself at home," Mary said. "Let me put the strawberries away."
She hobbled over to the kitchen and did just that, rinsing her hands before heading back to the living room. Hatori had taken a seat on the couch and Mary joined him. He tried not to pay too much attention to the way the hem of her nightshirt rode up her legs when she sat.
"Is your ankle still sore or is it something else?" Hatori asked.
"Still sore," she acknowledged. "I've had this happen before, but it's usually ok after a day or so. Maybe I'm just overtired."
Hatori nodded. "Possible. Fatigue can make minor injuries take longer to heal. Let me see your arm."
Mary complied, scooting closer to Hatori. He held her arm gently and ran his thumb across the skin next to the scrape near her elbow. Mary watched, mesmerized.
"Hmm," Hatori mused. "There are still a few spots that may open up again." He reached down into his bag and produced antiseptic, cotton swabs, and bandages. "One more treatment should be enough."
Hatori set to work and again Mary found herself staring at his face. The atmosphere was different this time, though, heavier, more full of tension. Electric. He looked up at her and they stared at each other. Hatori's hands stopped working, his fingers absently caressed her arm. Mary wondered why he kept his left eye covered with his hair but didn't dare ask.
"What do you do for your job?"
The question came out of nowhere and Hatori immediately kicked himself for asking it and breaking the moment. Mary's head whipped to the side and her cheeks burned. She bit her lip, keeping back a frustrated growl. Hatori bowed his head further, quickly finished bandaging her arm, and moved to the floor where he could clean her knee.
Except now, if he tilted his head just so, he could see...
"Don't think about it," Hatori chastised his mind.
"Um, I work for a company as a software engineer that makes drawing applications," Mary managed. "We have a Japanese branch that is beginning a large project so some of us were transferred here until more help could be found."
"It sounds interesting," Hatori replied, keeping his eyes on her knee.
"It is," Mary replied, happy to have something she could think about other than Hatori. That line of thought only lead to more frustration and embarrassment, anyway. "With all the manga artists and animators in this country, it was nice to be closer to them since they are our primary market. To see what they do and hear what they want in applications is fun. Plus, it's made me interested in drawing, too."
"You sound like you really enjoy your job," Hatori said, glancing up at her. She smiled at him.
"I do. It's not often you find people who really enjoy their jobs, but I love mine. It's not all good, of course, but the good, more often than not, outweighs the bad," Mary replied. "What about you? Do you enjoy your job?"
Hatori finished applying the bandage to Mary's knee and cocked his head to the side in thought. Did he like his job? Did he enjoy being at Akito's beck and call and tending to the needs of the entire Souma family.
"Sometimes," he answered truthfully. "I enjoy the fact that I get to help people. It is...gratifying, especially since my patients are my family members."
"But?" Mary prompted.
"At the same time, because I only treat the Souma it feels...restricting. Taking care of Akito, especially when his health is on the decline, is a full time job."
"If you could have your own practice, outside of the Souma family, would you do it? Or would you do something else?" Mary asked, curious.
"I think I would take it," Hatori answered. "Being a doctor, like I said, is very gratifying. But I feel like I'm cheating others by limiting my patient base to my family."
"Why can't you expand?"
"Akito...disapproves," Hatori simply said. "I would need to move my office away from the Souma house, which would mean I would not be as accessible to Akito or the other Juunishi. In a way, it is fortunate that I am a doctor, being a Juunishi myself."
"The secret wouldn't be in danger," Mary mused.
"Ah," Hatori nodded. "Unfortunately, none of the other Juunishi, or those who know of the Juunishi, are in the field of medicine. So there would be no one to act as backup if I wanted to have my own practice."
"I can see how that would be restrictive," Mary said quietly.
Hatori found himself staring at Mary again, oddly heartened by the warmth and understanding in her voice and the gentle look of sympathy she gave him. Time stretched and they continued to stare at each other, neither caring that no words were spoken and no movements made. Mary finally moved, smiling at him. Hatori gave her a small smile in return and inclined his head in thanks. It was refreshing to be able to talk about his ambitions to someone with a different perspective.
"I'm going to wrap your ankle to try and immobilize it, all right?" Hatori asked.
Mary nodded and scooted forward, perching on the edge of the couch and bracing herself with her hands. Hatori moved back a little and cradled her foot in his lap. Carefully, he wrapped a bandage around her ankle.
"Too tight?" he asked.
"Mm mmm," Mary replied in the negative.
Hatori finished wrapping Mary's ankle, secured it, and gave it a friendly pat.
"Try that," he said.
Mary leaned forward, moved her foot to the floor, and applied a little pressure to it. The bandage prevented her ankle from moving too much, yet still giving her enough range of motion to walk almost normally.
"I think it's fine," Mary said. "Thank you, again." She leaned forward a little more, wanting to try and stand...and promptly lost her balance.
Mary cried out as she toppled forward. Hatori moved backward quickly and ended up propped up on his elbow, his right hand flat against Mary's shoulder in an attempt to stop her fall. She was practically on top of him, her arms on either side of his body with her palms flat on the ground. She'd ended up on her knees, her legs on either side of one of his. He could feel her thigh against his knee.
"Are you all right?" Hatori asked.
Mary was utterly and completely embarrassed. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm so sorry."
Her face was inches away from his.
"It's all right," Hatori whispered.
She looked as if she were about to cry. Mary's brow furrowed in worry and embarrassment. Hatori found he wanted to smooth those lines in her face. She was much prettier without them. Without thinking of what he was doing, Hatori lightly brushed his fingers down the side of her face. Mary's eyes widened in surprise and he was about to apologize when she smiled that brilliant smile at him.
Again, Hatori drew his fingers down the side of Mary's face, her skin silky smooth beneath the sensitive pads of his fingers. Her eyes closed and she sighed in contentment, her lips parting slightly.
"It would be so easy," Hatori thought to himself, "so easy, to just lean in and kiss her."
*snick*
The sound of the front door unlocking seemed unusually loud in the small apartment. With amazing speed, Mary found herself back on the couch. Hatori had turned around and was in the midst of replacing his supplies when Sue walked in.
"I'm-" Sue stopped in mid-greeting. She looked between Mary, sitting entirely too innocently on the couch, and Hatori on the floor. She could have sworn his cheeks were slightly pink.
"-back," Sue finished.
"Welcome home," Mary said, brightly.
-
End Chapter 6
Or
How to Mary Sue Yourself and Your Friend into Fruits Basket
by secretjuunishi
-
Fandom: Fruits Basket
Spoilers: for the anime only, although I do mention the name of a Juunishi that is mentioned in the manga
Rating: PG-13 (for now)
Pairing: Mary x Hatori, Sue x Shigure
Genre: Humor/Romance/Angst/Drama
Disclaimer: I don't own them...I'm just borrowing them. Hail to Takaya Natsuki.
Summary: Mary Smith and Sue Jones end up in the Fruits Basket universe and they have *secrets.* *spooky music* Mary/Hatori, Sue/Shigure.
Author's Note: To compensate for the last chapter, which was so short, I present...a longer one.
-
Chapter 6 of ?
-
Sunday morning dawned, casting its rays annoyingly into Mary's eyes. She and Sue were curled up on the floor of the living room, having cried themselves to sleep the previous night. Mary sat up and winced. Sleeping on the floor was not the most comfortable of things. Carefully, she tucked the blanket she'd pulled from the couch around Sue's sleeping form and slowly stood, remembering not to put too much weight on her injured foot.
Unconsciously, her head turned toward the coffee table where her eyes set upon Hatori's card. Mary grabbed the card and stared at it. Professional lettering and wording. No cheesy slogan or image to mar the surface. Mary smiled softly, remembering the kindness the good doctor had shown toward her.
Slowly, she made her way to her bedroom and flopped on her bed. And that's how Sue found her a little while later, dozing with a small smile on her face, still clutching Hatori's card in her hand.
Sue grinned.
Mary opened her eyes slowly, surprised she'd fallen asleep again. She was aware of a pair of eyes staring at her with a distinct air of amusement.
"What?" she asked.
"Have nice Hatori dreams?" Sue teased.
Despite all her efforts, Mary blushed. "Not especially, no. Why do you ask?"
Sue pointed to Mary's hand. Wherein she was mortified to see she was holding Hatori's business card.
"I'm such a fangirl," Mary bemoaned.
Sue giggled.
"Should I buy you a frame to put it in so it doesn't get worn?" Sue continued to tease.
"No, but you can go and buy more donuts. I think we're out," Mary said, stretching.
"What? We're out of donuts?!" Sue looked frantic. She ran to the kitchen and began making a list of things to buy.
"Anything else you want?" she called.
"I don't think so," Mary said.
"Ok," Sue said, slightly breathless. "I think I got everything. I'm off!"
"Come back soon!" Mary yelled, grinning as she heard the door slam. She flopped back on her bed, after carefully putting Hatori's card on the nightstand, and promptly fell asleep again.
+
Sue hummed as she strolled down the street. The day was turning out to be yet another beautiful one. It was neither too hot nor too cold, just the way she liked it. She entered the local store, grabbed a basket, and immediately started filling it. Donuts first, of course.
As she searched the fruit section for strawberries for Mary, she heard a familiar voice.
"Sue-san!"
Sue immediately melted.
"Momiji-chan!"
The two embraced warmly, eliciting smiles from those around them.
"What are you doing here?" Sue asked.
"I'm buying supplies!" He said, holding up his basket. It was filled with all manner of things: construction paper, glue, glitter, markers, scissors, etc.
"Supplies for what?" She couldn't stop grinning.
"I'm making a 'Get Well' card for Mary-san!" Momiji exclaimed.
"You are so sweet!" Sue nearly screamed. Instead, she grabbed Momiji and hugged him tight once more.
"Would you help me with the card?" Momiji asked.
"Of course. I'm almost done," Sue said, her smile threatening to split her face in two.
The pair exited the store with their purchases and found a spot under a shady tree where they could make Mary's card. Sue and Momiji nibbled on a donut while they worked, drawing butterflies and outlining them with glitter. Momiji also drew several bunnies and smilie faces just to make sure Mary would be happy when she saw the card.
"Do you think she'll like it?" Momiji asked, a hopeful look on his face.
"She'll love it," Sue assured.
"Um..."
Sue tilted her head, encouraging Momiji to continue.
"Would it be ok if I came over and delivered the card now?" he asked, hopping from foot to foot.
"Absolutely!" Sue said, clapping her hands with joy.
"Yay!" Momiji said, a huge grin on his face.
Sue held her hand out to Momiji and the pair skipped off toward Mary's apartment, hand in hand.
+
"I'm home!" Sue called as she entered the apartment.
Mary was sitting on the couch and turned toward the doorway with a smile on her face. "Welcome ho- Momiji-kun!"
Mary instantly felt a thousand times happier and the room seemed a thousand times brighter. Amazing what an extremely happy kid can do for a place.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, a huge grin on her face. She noticed Sue was also grinning like a maniac.
"I made you a card!" Momiji exclaimed and ran toward her.
"Aww, you are so sweet, Momiji-kun," Mary said, catching the boy and hugging him close. Sue was right, he was addictive to hug. "Thank you so much."
"Sue-san helped me with it!"
Mary opened the card and grinned even wider, if that was possible.
"This is the best 'Get Well' card I've ever gotten, Momiji-kun. Thank you again," Mary gushed.
Momiji hugged her again. "I'm glad. Is your foot all better, now?"
"Not quite, but almost," Mary admitted. "It's just something that will take a little time to heal."
"What are you going to do tomorrow?" Momiji asked, clearly concerned. "You have to go to work, don't you?"
Mary smiled. "Luckily, I can do my work from home, so I can stay off my foot like Hatori-sensei suggested."
Momiji bit his lip and nodded, still not convinced.
"Don't worry about me, Momiji-kun," Mary reassured. "I'll be fine. Especially since Hatori-sensei helped me so much yesterday!"
Sue, who'd been putting the groceries away, leered at Mary, who chose to ignore it.
Momiji scooted off Mary's lap. "I have to go now, I'm sorry," he said, smile faltering. "I promised Ha'ri-san I'd only be gone an hour and it's almost an hour."
"Do you want me to walk you home?" Sue offered, clearly not willing to let the cute boy go just yet.
"It's ok, Sue-san," he replied, smiling at her brightly. Sue melted, again. "I can make it by myself!"
"Ok," Sue said reluctantly. "But be careful!"
"I will!" Momiji agreed before hugging Sue again. "And I hope your foot feels better very soon, Mary-san!"
"Uhn!" Mary agreed.
The pair watched as Momiji exited their apartment, bright smiles and all. The door closed and the room suddenly seemed darker.
"My face hurts," Mary remarked.
"Me, too, but strangely, I don't care," Sue said. They stared at each other with semi-permanent smiles in place.
The rest of the day passed peacefully and in a boring fashion. Sue spent most of the early evening going over the homework she had to turn in the next day. Mary helped when she could but spent most of the time practicing her drawing.
"Jawlines suck," Mary muttered randomly.
"Draw Hatori's," Sue replied.
Mary ignored her. She erased the line and tried again.
"Or better yet, draw naked Hatori."
A big, thick, jagged line ended up all over Mary's paper. She sighed and turned to a new page.
The next morning came all too soon and Sue dragged herself out of bed at an unnatural hour. Mary was already up, having showered and gotten breakfast ready.
"Coffee...need...coffee," Sue mumbled in a zombie-like state.
Mary pointed to the table where Sue's meal was already laid out: mug of coffee and donuts. Sue inhaled the meal and immediately felt better.
"What are you doing up?" Sue asked. "You don't have to go to work today."
Mary gave Sue a side-long glance. "I may not have to actually physically go to work, but I still have to do work."
"Hff!"
"I called my manager and let him know that I wouldn't be coming in today and possibly tomorrow. No problem, but I do have a teleconference I need to listen in on in about half an hour," Mary explained. "At least I can do that in my pajamas."
Sue grinned. "You could do it naked, too."
Mary snickered. "Go get ready. You'll be late."
Some minutes later, Sue emerged, freshly showered and dressed in her school uniform.
"How do I look?" Sue asked, posing.
"Cute as ever," Mary said, winking.
"You rock," Sue said, hugging her cousin. "Be good to your foot." Sue paused. "Or not...then you could call Hatori and have him play doctor on you."
"Go!" Mary scolded, laughing.
"Be back this afternoon," Sue said and waved goodbye.
"Be safe...and be good!" Mary called.
A half hour later found Mary lazing on the couch, still in pajamas, but with a notebook in hand and a phone to her ear. She idly drew in the notebook as she listened in on a completely boring meeting. She had, maybe, all of two sentences to add to the conversation, but she didn't mind. An hour and a sore ear later, the call finally ended and Mary was free to finish her work for the day whenever she wanted. She stared at her notebook with a funny look on her face.
"Man, he's really on my mind," she said aloud.
Mary had scribbled Hatori's name all over the page in hiragana and katakana. She'd even gone as far as trying to draw him, but she knew she had some of the proportions wrong. Maybe she could get him to pose one day.
"Yeah, right," Mary thought. "If Sue knew I was thinking that she'd suggest I get him to pose nude."
Tossing the notebook aside, Mary set to work. She'd rather get it out of the way now so she could relax for the rest of the day than have it sitting around anyway. Two hours passed and Mary, engrossed in her work, didn't notice until her stomach started to complain. Amazed at the passage of time, Mary quickly finished up the rest of her task, saved it, and set to making some food.
Mary was in the kitchen slicing strawberries when a knock sounded on the door. She munched on a strawberry as she made her way to the door, curious who her mid-day visitor was. She peeked out the peep hole and immediately wished she were wearing more clothing.
"Um, just a moment," she called frantically.
There, outside her door, right now, was Hatori. It would take too long to hobble back to her room and grab a robe and get back, but at the same time she was feeling incredibly self-conscious at the moment.
"Oh, Hell," she thought and threw open the door.
"Souma-sensei," she greeted and bowed. "This is a surprise."
Hatori's eyes widened slightly at Mary's attire.
"I apologize for the...uh...lack of...clothes," Mary stammered, feeling extremely stupid.
"I should apologize. I should have called," Hatori managed.
Truth be told, he was quite pleased. She was wearing an oversized men's dress shirt that came down to about mid-thigh. Granted, the previous day her shorts came down to about that length, too, but somehow this was different. Much different.
Mary smiled brightly. "Come in, please," she invited, gesturing with the remains of a strawberry.
"Thank you," he said, and bowed to her before entering and removing his shoes.
"What brings you by?" Mary asked, curious.
"Momiji told me you would be working from home today," Hatori started. "And he made me promise I would come and check on you." Hatori gave Mary a slight smile.
"Momiji-kun is so cute and very sweet to be so concerned about me," Mary remarked. "And you're very sweet, too, for taking time out of your schedule to actually come see me."
Hatori ducked his head in embarrassment, covering it up by placing his bag on the ground next to the couch.
"I did promise," Hatori explained. "But I was also curious. More so when Momiji reported you were still having trouble with your ankle."
"Oh," Mary said. "Well, thank you very much for your concern."
"Man, that sounds so stupid," Mary thought to herself.
"Lunch?" Hatori asked, nodding toward the strawberry still in Mary's hand.
"Uhn," Mary replied, popping it into her mouth. "Would you like some? I was just making lunch."
"I'm fine, thank you," Hatori said distractedly. He'd unconsciously watched closely as Mary ate the last of the strawberry, noticing the little droplets of juice still on her fingers.
"Please, make yourself at home," Mary said. "Let me put the strawberries away."
She hobbled over to the kitchen and did just that, rinsing her hands before heading back to the living room. Hatori had taken a seat on the couch and Mary joined him. He tried not to pay too much attention to the way the hem of her nightshirt rode up her legs when she sat.
"Is your ankle still sore or is it something else?" Hatori asked.
"Still sore," she acknowledged. "I've had this happen before, but it's usually ok after a day or so. Maybe I'm just overtired."
Hatori nodded. "Possible. Fatigue can make minor injuries take longer to heal. Let me see your arm."
Mary complied, scooting closer to Hatori. He held her arm gently and ran his thumb across the skin next to the scrape near her elbow. Mary watched, mesmerized.
"Hmm," Hatori mused. "There are still a few spots that may open up again." He reached down into his bag and produced antiseptic, cotton swabs, and bandages. "One more treatment should be enough."
Hatori set to work and again Mary found herself staring at his face. The atmosphere was different this time, though, heavier, more full of tension. Electric. He looked up at her and they stared at each other. Hatori's hands stopped working, his fingers absently caressed her arm. Mary wondered why he kept his left eye covered with his hair but didn't dare ask.
"What do you do for your job?"
The question came out of nowhere and Hatori immediately kicked himself for asking it and breaking the moment. Mary's head whipped to the side and her cheeks burned. She bit her lip, keeping back a frustrated growl. Hatori bowed his head further, quickly finished bandaging her arm, and moved to the floor where he could clean her knee.
Except now, if he tilted his head just so, he could see...
"Don't think about it," Hatori chastised his mind.
"Um, I work for a company as a software engineer that makes drawing applications," Mary managed. "We have a Japanese branch that is beginning a large project so some of us were transferred here until more help could be found."
"It sounds interesting," Hatori replied, keeping his eyes on her knee.
"It is," Mary replied, happy to have something she could think about other than Hatori. That line of thought only lead to more frustration and embarrassment, anyway. "With all the manga artists and animators in this country, it was nice to be closer to them since they are our primary market. To see what they do and hear what they want in applications is fun. Plus, it's made me interested in drawing, too."
"You sound like you really enjoy your job," Hatori said, glancing up at her. She smiled at him.
"I do. It's not often you find people who really enjoy their jobs, but I love mine. It's not all good, of course, but the good, more often than not, outweighs the bad," Mary replied. "What about you? Do you enjoy your job?"
Hatori finished applying the bandage to Mary's knee and cocked his head to the side in thought. Did he like his job? Did he enjoy being at Akito's beck and call and tending to the needs of the entire Souma family.
"Sometimes," he answered truthfully. "I enjoy the fact that I get to help people. It is...gratifying, especially since my patients are my family members."
"But?" Mary prompted.
"At the same time, because I only treat the Souma it feels...restricting. Taking care of Akito, especially when his health is on the decline, is a full time job."
"If you could have your own practice, outside of the Souma family, would you do it? Or would you do something else?" Mary asked, curious.
"I think I would take it," Hatori answered. "Being a doctor, like I said, is very gratifying. But I feel like I'm cheating others by limiting my patient base to my family."
"Why can't you expand?"
"Akito...disapproves," Hatori simply said. "I would need to move my office away from the Souma house, which would mean I would not be as accessible to Akito or the other Juunishi. In a way, it is fortunate that I am a doctor, being a Juunishi myself."
"The secret wouldn't be in danger," Mary mused.
"Ah," Hatori nodded. "Unfortunately, none of the other Juunishi, or those who know of the Juunishi, are in the field of medicine. So there would be no one to act as backup if I wanted to have my own practice."
"I can see how that would be restrictive," Mary said quietly.
Hatori found himself staring at Mary again, oddly heartened by the warmth and understanding in her voice and the gentle look of sympathy she gave him. Time stretched and they continued to stare at each other, neither caring that no words were spoken and no movements made. Mary finally moved, smiling at him. Hatori gave her a small smile in return and inclined his head in thanks. It was refreshing to be able to talk about his ambitions to someone with a different perspective.
"I'm going to wrap your ankle to try and immobilize it, all right?" Hatori asked.
Mary nodded and scooted forward, perching on the edge of the couch and bracing herself with her hands. Hatori moved back a little and cradled her foot in his lap. Carefully, he wrapped a bandage around her ankle.
"Too tight?" he asked.
"Mm mmm," Mary replied in the negative.
Hatori finished wrapping Mary's ankle, secured it, and gave it a friendly pat.
"Try that," he said.
Mary leaned forward, moved her foot to the floor, and applied a little pressure to it. The bandage prevented her ankle from moving too much, yet still giving her enough range of motion to walk almost normally.
"I think it's fine," Mary said. "Thank you, again." She leaned forward a little more, wanting to try and stand...and promptly lost her balance.
Mary cried out as she toppled forward. Hatori moved backward quickly and ended up propped up on his elbow, his right hand flat against Mary's shoulder in an attempt to stop her fall. She was practically on top of him, her arms on either side of his body with her palms flat on the ground. She'd ended up on her knees, her legs on either side of one of his. He could feel her thigh against his knee.
"Are you all right?" Hatori asked.
Mary was utterly and completely embarrassed. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm so sorry."
Her face was inches away from his.
"It's all right," Hatori whispered.
She looked as if she were about to cry. Mary's brow furrowed in worry and embarrassment. Hatori found he wanted to smooth those lines in her face. She was much prettier without them. Without thinking of what he was doing, Hatori lightly brushed his fingers down the side of her face. Mary's eyes widened in surprise and he was about to apologize when she smiled that brilliant smile at him.
Again, Hatori drew his fingers down the side of Mary's face, her skin silky smooth beneath the sensitive pads of his fingers. Her eyes closed and she sighed in contentment, her lips parting slightly.
"It would be so easy," Hatori thought to himself, "so easy, to just lean in and kiss her."
*snick*
The sound of the front door unlocking seemed unusually loud in the small apartment. With amazing speed, Mary found herself back on the couch. Hatori had turned around and was in the midst of replacing his supplies when Sue walked in.
"I'm-" Sue stopped in mid-greeting. She looked between Mary, sitting entirely too innocently on the couch, and Hatori on the floor. She could have sworn his cheeks were slightly pink.
"-back," Sue finished.
"Welcome home," Mary said, brightly.
-
End Chapter 6