Disclaimer: I only own Saya.
"blah"-talking
blah-thinking
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Your Curse, My Cure
Chapter Six
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Hana slipped her shoes on and held onto Saya's hand as they waited for Hatori, Shigure's warning still fresh in her mind. She jumped when Hatori slid the door open and smiled at her. She smiled nervously and fixed her blazer, laughing slightly when Saya imitated her by fixing her buttons on her blouse. "Come on," she said and took the little girls' hand again, following Hatori to the car. After they were all situated and Hatori started the engine, Hana asked, "Hatori, would you ever erase my memories?"
Hatori looked at her in shock, partly because of how she said his name but mostly because of the question itself. "Why would you ask that?" he replied, his eyes narrowing.
"Please just answer the question," she said, fidgeting with her seatbelt. "I need to know."
"I don't know, Saki," he replied, staring down at the steering wheel, watching his knuckles turn white from gripping it so hard. "If I had to, then yes I would," he said and turned towards her, "but believe me I'd never do it intentionally. I never want to take peoples memories from them; I've always had to. If Akito told me to erase your memories I'd have no choice, I didn't want to take Kana's memories either."
Hana looked up when he said the name, her eyes narrowing in confusion. "'Kana'?" she asked, turning to face him.
"She was the woman I was in love with," he said and turned back towards the steering wheel. "Don't get me wrong here, Saki, I'll always love Kana but she's a part of my past I don't want to repeat. I enjoyed the time we had together and I'll never forget it but my happiness came with a price. Saki, right now, you're the only one I'm focusing on and I won't erase your memories if I don't have to."
"Thank you for being honest with me," she said and looked back at Saya who was staring at them curiously.
"Why did you ask that anyway?" he asked and pulled out of the driveway.
"Shigure-san and I had a talk and he warned me about how close you and
Akito-san are," she said. She looked over to him and immediately regretted saying anything as she observed him, he was once again clutching the steering wheel, his eyes were narrowed and his mouth was pressed together in a thin line. "Hato-kun," she said softly and covered one of his hands with hers, pulling away when he flinched.
"You'd listen to someone else's words?" he asked dangerously low.
"I just had to be sure," she replied defensively.
"Saki, listen to me, from now on we'll go to each other first before drawing conclusions or whatever else, okay?" he said, shifted his gaze to her before bringing it back to the road. "Okay, Saki?"
"Okay," she replied and looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry I upset you."
"Are mommy and daddy fighting?" Saya asked from the back seat, her sniffles growing louder.
"No, we're not fighting," Hatori said while giving her a smile in the rearview mirror. "We were just having a serious conversation."
"Oh, okay," she replied and wiped away her tears with her sleeve.
Hana chewed on her bottom lip and chipped off the rest of her black nail polish. She sighed when they finally arrived at the theater, stepping out of the car and helping Saya out. "We're going to watch the movie now and no more serious discussions," she said to Saya, who smiled.
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Hana stretched her arms and sighed, sliding her ballpoint pen behind her ear and looked out the window. She saw a group of birds sitting on the limb of a tree, singing peacefully. Turning back to the computer monitor, she let her fingers run over the keys again. "Work never looses it excitement," she said sarcastically and crossed her legs, glancing at the clock. She and Hatori hadn't talked that much since the movie incident and now the workplace seemed a little strained. She was glad when he had left for his lunch break, taking Saya with him.
She still felt he was mad at her, even though she had only asked a simple question. Shigure had been a bit tense around her since then to, she guessed he and Hatori had a little talk. Letting a sigh escaped her lips, she flipped threw the rest of the files, stopping when she read 'Souma, Akito' in Hatori's small script. Biting her lip she pulled the file out and opened it, looking at the first page. Her eyes widened as she read the information then they stopped and opened completely. "Gender female," she whispered, her finger stopping on the line she read. "Akito's a woman."
"We're back, mommy!" Saya yelled as the door opened.
Hana closed the file and quickly covered it with the rest of the files, smiling at the little girl. "Where's your daddy?" she asked, her palms growing sweaty, like they always did when she felt she had been caught.
"He's getting' some more coffee, don't know why though," she said and plopped down in her usual spot, picking up her Barbie dolls. "He gots a full cup on his desk."
Hana laughed then stopped when Hatori walked in and placed the cup of coffee on her desk. "Thank you," she replied and took a sip of it, yelping when it burned her tongue. "Damn, it's hot!"
"Mommy swored, that's a dollar in the swear jar!" Saya said with a cute, angry face.
"Are you alright?" Hatori asked with an amused smile on his face and handed her a napkin.
"Yeah," she replied and wiped the trail of coffee from her chin, she looked up at him and blinked a few times. "Are we okay?"
Hatori looked confused. "Yes, why wouldn't we be?" he asked then his eyes widened in realization. "We have seemed a bit tense, huh?"
"Yeah, we have," she replied and smiled softly. "I thought you were still mad at me."
"I'm not mad, just a little upset," he replied and sat in his chair.
"What's the difference?" she asked with a small smile.
He chuckled. "Anyway, I've been thinking lately and I was wondering if you and Saya would like to move in with me?" he asked, keeping his eyes on her. He laughed again when she spilt more coffee on herself and swore again.
"Mommy, you keep doin' that and I'll be rich!" Saya reprimanded with another angry face.
"M-move in?" she asked.
"Am I rushing you?" he asked, leaning on his desk.
"No! No, it's just we've only been together a few days and well I know what I want but I don't want you to feel you have to do this," she said and wiped away the coffee. "I've known you for a bout a month and in that short time I fell in love with you and now I'm dating you, it great. If you feel rushed, you don't have to do this. Just because I'm looking for an apartment doesn't mean you have to feel obligated to let me stay with you."
"I don't feel rushed and I don't feel obligated," he said, sipping his coffee. "I want to do this because I feel it'll bring us closer together. I don't know about you but I've feel like we're sort of drifting apart ever since your little chat with Shigure, that baka."
"I do feel like we're sort of drifting apart," she said and looked at Saya. "Well, what do you think we should do?"
"Let's live with daddy!" Saya yelled with a grin, dropping her Barbies and jumping up. "Oh, pwease, let's live with daddy!"
"Well, I guess that's a yes," Hana replied with a smile.
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Two weeks later, Hana was finally moved in, every last box was now in Hatori's two-bedroom apartment. She fell onto the couch with a sigh and wiped the sweat off her forehead. She watched as Saya walked into the room, eating a bowl of ice cream with a very large spoon.
"Mommy, why are you wearing my shirt?" she asked and cocked her head to the side.
Hana laughed and looked down at her white, blue polka-dotted, midriff top. "Because mommy's hot," she said and crossed her jean-clad legs.
"In more ways then one," Hatori said as he walked out of the kitchen carrying two bowls of ice cream with two large spoons. "Here."
She took the bowl and pulled the spoon out, staring at it then staring up at him. "What is with these ridiculously large spoons?" she asked and licked it clean, taking a large scoop afterwards and shoving it in her mouth.
"Because Saya wanted them and that's what you get for eating such a large scoop," Hatori said while failing not to laugh at Hana's brain freeze. He sat down next to her and smiled when she laid her head on his shoulder. "Tohru-chan and them will be stopping by later."
"Really?" she asked and looked up at him.
"Yep," he said and tapped her nose with his ice cream covered spoon, leaving a large portion on her nose. He stood and took his empty bowl into the kitchen, chuckling softly.
Hana wiped the ice cream off her nose and stuck her tongue at his retreating form.
"Ooh, daddy! Mommy stuck her tongue at you," Saya said with a giggle.
Hana gasped and grabbed the little girl. "You little traitor," she said and tickled her until tears poured down her cheeks. She laughed and held her up, giving her a hug. "No more telling daddy things that mommy does."
"She'll tell me," he said and fell down next to them, sticking his tongue out at her. He quickly recoiled it when she snapped at him, a playful smile on her face. "Vicious woman."
"The vicious woman you're dating," she said and poked him in the chest. "You do remember her right?"
Hatori looked in deep thought for a moment. "Who, Minase? Ryoko?"
"That's not funny, Hatori!" she said with a mock hurt look and turned away from him, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I was only kidding," he said and pulled her to him, kissing her softly on the lips. "Her name is Saki Hanajima."
She smiled. "That better be her name," she replied and laid her head on his shoulder, laughing as Saya stared at them with her face scrunched up.
"Cooties," she said simply and hopped off Hana's lap, walking into the hallway and disappearing into her room.
"She's so cute," Hana said and traced the veins in Hatori's hand, after flipping her legs onto his.
"Yep, and she's ours," he said and patted her leg. "Well, let's get this stuff unpacked and get ready for everyone to come over."
"Okay," she replied and stood up, walking over to a few large boxes.
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Sorry this chapter's so short, the next one will be longer. It's also going to be set three months later so it might get confusing. Anyway, hope you enjoyed and please R&R.
Yoko Touma