Chapter 2 (What Not To Wear)

The sunlight streamed into the window of Hatori's guest room, waking Kita from a very deep sleep. She had been planning to sleep the rest of her life away but fate had other plans for her. She rubbed her eyes furiously, trying to remember the dream she had last night. She couldn't. She knew that she had dreamt but she could not remember what she had dreamt about to save her life. She just knew that it made her feel happily scared. What a contradiction.

The futon in Hatori's guest room was surprisingly comfortable so sleep had come easy in spite of the trauma of earlier that night. Waking up the next morning and going on with life is the hard part.

As Kita tried desperately to wake herself up, she noticed something in the room that wasn't there last night. Draped over a chair in the corner of the room she saw the clothes she had worn yesterday along with some other articles of clothing that she knew she didn't have with her last night. Had Hatori picked them up at her house for her to wear today? That was nice of him.

She got off the futon and went to see what he had selected for her. There was a black top made of some sort of clingy fabric that had a very low v-neck. Kita liked it but she hadn't worn it in a while so she was satisfied with the choice. There was a skirt to go with it too, a little above the knee with a blue floral pattern. Kita frowned. The skirt had been her mother's and she had only worn it once because it was almost two sizes too big and had an elastic waist so it barely stayed on her. That could be a problem. Then it occurred to her that she didn't have the proper undergarments for such a low shirt. She held the shirt up to her to see exactly how low it was. Yes, that will definitely be a problem also. She looked back at the chair and noticed that underneath the shirt, there was a bra for her. It was black satin and designed for a low shirt but it was one she kept in her bottom drawer because she thought it made her look like a slut. Great, she thought, picking it up off the chair. And on top of that, Hatori was looking in my bottom drawer. She felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment.

She put the clothes back on the chair and walked into Hatori's kitchen. There were some noodles lying out so she poured some for herself and started eating. She never eats breakfast but for some reason she woke up hungry today.

Kita has always had unusual eating habits. She doesn't eat anything at lunch either until she sneaks a snack during school at three o'clock. Then when she gets home, she eats a strange dinner and has a midnight snack later. It's a pretty small amount of food all things considered but Kita can't eat too much because she gets sick to her stomach easily. She's practically immune to fevers and colds but she is paid back in frequent nausea and muscle pains.

Hatori walked in and gave her a weird look.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

Kita furrowed her brows. "Eating breakfast." she said like it should have been obvious.

"It's 1:00." he said matter-of-factly.

"Eating lunch." she said, through a mouth full of noodles.

Hatori rolled his eyes.

"Hey, you could have just picked out a t-shirt and jeans for me to wear today. I don't need a skirt." she said, twirling her chopsticks between her fingers.

"You're going to have to look nice today. I wish you would put on something right now." he said, tearing his eyes away from her. She was wearing one of Hatori's button-down shirts without pajama pants and it was making him uncomfortable.

Before Kita had a chance to ask why she had to look nice today, the door opened and Shigure entered like a beacon of joy.

"Good morning, Ha..." Shigure's voice trailed off as his eyes fell on Kita. He looked her up and down, taking in her attire.

"Hatori, you naughty man, you."

Kita rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to go get dressed. Hatori, you can explain it to him." she said, putting her noodles on the table and walking off to the guest room.

Shigure took a seat, grinning at Hatori who glared in response.

"She spent the night in the guest room. Jiro died last night and I was at the hospital picking up supplies when it happened so I invited her to stay here." he said grimly.

Shigure's smile dropped as he looked remorsefully down the hall.

"Poor girl. After losing her mother, what misfortune could cause such a horrible tragedy to strike her again?" he asked, resting his chin on his fist.

"I don't know but she is going to need some good luck today." he said, lighting a cigarette.

Shigure's eyes widened.

"Don't tell me you're taking her to..."

"There's no other choice." Hatori said, cutting him off. "All she has is family like us now. While distant, she is still restricted to similar rules. It's unavoidable."

"But what about your promise to Mina?" Shigure asked.

Hatori blew out a puff of smoke and sighed.

"Mina would understand."

While they were talking, Kita dressed in the clothes Hatori had gotten for her and looked at herself in the full length mirror. This is not good, she thought, inspecting her appearance. The skirt barely clung to her hipbones. One swift movement and it would fall to her ankles and she would be left to stand in her underwear. As long as I walk slow and keep my hand ready at the waist, I should be okay, she thought.

What there was no cure for was the way her shirt looked. She frantically tugged at it, trying to cover up her exposed cleavage but it was no use. Now it was obvious why she had kept that bra in the bottom drawer. I guess the best I can do, she thought, is hope that whoever I have to see today won't notice. But it's pretty hard not to.

She smoothed down her long locks and walked out of the room with her hand on the waistband on her skirt for safety.

Down the hall, Kita could see Hatori and Shigure talking very seriously, common for Hatori, extremely uncommon for Shigure. She couldn't help but feel that it had something to do with her.

When she got to the kitchen, Shigure's mouth dropped to the floor.

"Kita, you've grown up since I last saw you." he said, staring at her practically bare breasts.

She groaned and wrapped her arms over her chest. She had grown to like Shigure since her last New Year's party but he could be so perverted and it got on her nerves.

"Hatori, why did you have to look in my bottom drawer?" she pleaded.

"I didn't know it made a difference." he said, giving Shigure a slap on the head.

Shigure shook his head as if trying to get back to reality and then stood up from the table.

"Well, I better get going. You two have a big day ahead of you. Good luck, Kita. I wish you the best." he said before exiting Hatori's house.

Kita gave Hatori a confused expression. Her eyes then landed on the cigarette in his hand.

"Could you put that out? You're a doctor for God's sake."

Hatori stubbed the cancerous stick out into an ashtray and Kita smiled. She hated cigarettes and it bothered her whenever she saw someone she cared about hurting themselves.

"Thanks." she said. "Hari, why did Shigure wish me good lu-?"

"We best get going so we aren't late. Come on." Hatori said, cryptically.

"But where-?" Kita started but couldn't finish her question because Hatori had already gotten out the door.