I'm on some sort of writing spree. I've just finished writing chapter 4 and now here I sit with chapter 5. Of course I'll still have to read this thing about 20 times before I post it. Me and my OCD over grammar and spelling (though somehow I still miss some of it). You know, much to my horror I've realized I forgot all about Eiji. Whoopsie! So, uh, he…uh…he was sent to live with someone else. Anyway, on with the show! Enjoy!
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Courting The Weasel
Chapter 5: Comfort
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I make my way into the kitchen, limping slightly. I can move around now, the break is almost completely healed. The doctor said exercising it a little by walking won't hurt it, but I still can't go home. He wants me to just walk around the house a little, getting some strength back into my unused limbs. As I look into the spotless kitchen, I frown. There is no evidence that Saitou ate breakfast this morning. This simply will not do. I won't allow him to run himself into the ground with his grief over his sons leaving. He's still their father damn it and they still need him.
I dress in a light summer yukata and make my way to the old doctor's house. A friendly old woman teeters to the open door, smiling brightly at me, old eyes crinkling at the edges. "How may I help you, dear?"
I smile in greeting, bowing slightly. "My name is Makimachi Misao and I've been staying at the Fujita residence due to an injury."
The old woman's face brightens in understanding. "Ah, yes. The lady with the broken leg. Is it healing properly?"
"Oh yes, very well thank you. But, I still can't make it to the market and I was planning on making dinner tonight. I was wondering if you know of anyone who could possibly pick up a few items for me?"
She nodded quickly. "Oh of course! My granddaughter was going to head into town this afternoon to pick up a few things. I'm sure she wouldn't mind picking up your supplies since she'll be there anyway."
I smiled gratefully. "Are you sure it won't be a bother? I don't want to impose."
The old woman shook her head, a hand waving dismissively. "Nonsense! No trouble at all. My granddaughter loves going to the market so I'm sure a few extra stops would actually be welcome."
I thanked her again as I scribbled down a few things, handing over plenty of money to cover the expenses.
As I limped back to the house, I frowned thinking about Saitou. I didn't know what he was feeling and I couldn't relate but I would try to help him in some way. Even if that way was something as trivial as cooking him a nice meal, at least it let him know someone still cared about him.
I plopped down on the porch as that statement swam in my head. Cared about him. Of course I did, I cared about everyone. All people were important in their own way. But why did it seem a little more important that Saitou knew someone cared? What about all the other people who were alone? Why wasn't I particularly worried about them? I tried to reason it was because I didn't know them and I wasn't around them like I was with Saitou. But the thought didn't hold much water. Not knowing someone never stopped me from nosing into their business before.
I suppose my feelings toward Saitou had become friendlier. I would even go so far as to say we ARE friends. Sure, we still argued. A lot. But that's what our relationship was originally based on. We can't turn our backs on our roots! Giggling at the thought I hefted myself up, heading for the kitchen to cook myself some breakfast. No use in both of us starving.
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I busied myself around the house for the day, cleaning, though I hated it. I needed something to do. Weeks of sitting around idly had been horrible and any activity was a welcome change. I did the laundry, even Saitou's. The fact that I was acting like a dutiful housewife made me snort in laughter. The fact that 'Misao', 'dutiful housewife', and 'Saitou' should never be spoken in the same sentence sent me into greater fits of laughter.
The old woman's granddaughter had happily delivered my purchases from the market. Apparently the old lady was right. The girl was delighted to be able to shop a little longer. When she tried to give me my change I told her to keep it as payment for her help.
"Really? Do you really want me to keep it?"
I smiled at her enthusiasm. So much like me when I was that age. "Hai, keep it. Buy yourself something fun with it." I winked at her and she squealed.
"Oh, I know just the thing! There's this lovely ribbon I've been eyeing for weeks now and…oh I just can't wait!" She skipped back to her grandmother's house, still babbling about a ribbon.
I shook my head with a smile as I headed into the house to prepare dinner.
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Saitou arrived late that night, just as I suspected. He was going to bury himself in his work to keep from thinking about it. I greeted him from the chair I sat in, reading. "Hello, Saitou. How was work?"
He made a move to head to his room, not even replying to my question. Oh no you don't! I quickly stood up and grabbed his arm. "Wait, Saitou!"
He yanked it back viciously. "Let go, Itachi! I have no desire to sit out here and make small talk. I'm going to bed."
I will not lose this battle. I scurried in front of him, blocking the hallway. "No. I cooked you a decent meal. You didn't eat this morning and it wouldn't surprise me if you didn't eat lunch either. I won't allow you to just rot away in your room. Maybe the boys are gone to Aizu, but they still need you Saitou. You are still their father."
His eyes narrowed when I spoke of his sons, but softened right after. "Did you poison the food? You are a better cook than Tanuki, aren't you?"
Is he just giving in that easily? Wow, he must be more tired than I thought. Wait a minute…did he just insult me? Why that arrogant, no good… I'm glaring and glaring hard. "I work in a restaurant, baka. What do you think?"
"Look, weasel. I don't know if you cook the food or just waitress. So answer me."
I rolled my eyes with a sigh. "No, I didn't poison the food. And yes, I can cook much, much, MUCH better than Kaoru-san."
He arched an eyebrow at that statement. "I had heard rumors, but I didn't realize her food was that lethal."
I wasn't sure if that was an insult toward me, Kaoru-san, or both of us. Not that it mattered. Saitou was just a veritable cornucopia of insults. If he said something that wasn't meant as an insult but could be construed as one, he sure as heck wouldn't correct you if you thought he was being insulting.
I served him the food. Soba (much to his delight), tempura, rice, steamed vegetables and a chocolate cake for dessert. He quickly dug into the food, but eyed the cake strangely. "What is that?"
"It's a chocolate cake. We had this westerner come to the Aoiya to teach us how to cook some new dishes. This is a dessert we all loved. We never put it on the menu since it's a bit expensive to get the chocolate, but it's a great treat every now and then."
He nodded and resumed eating. I sat across from him to keep him company. We weren't talking, just a companionable silence while I read my book and he ate. I glanced up when I noticed he had stopped moving. He was glaring at a spot on the table, frowning. The look on his face was rather frightening. "S-Saitou?"
No response. He continued to glare and then his chopsticks snapped. Now I was thoroughly concerned. "Saitou? Say something. Anything. Are you alright?"
He spoke through clenched teeth. "Those were my sons too. My children. She had no right to take them from me. No right. I worked hard to provide for them and her all these years and she just takes them from me. Just like that." He snapped his fingers. "No remorse. Oh she said she was sorry, but I know her well enough to know she didn't mean it."
Saitou wasn't speaking to me. He was basically speaking to himself, forgetting anyone else was in the room. He needed to let his frustration out or he was going to snap one of these days.
I rested a hand on his arm, trying to give him some measure of comfort. "For what it's worth, Saitou, she truly wants you to be happy. She told me you deserve to find true love and it wasn't fair to keep you trapped in a loveless marriage."
He seemed to be jerked back to reality by my speech. He tried to slip his mask back in place but he just couldn't do it. He glared at me now. "The marriage I couldn't care less about! Good riddance to her! But my sons, MY sons are now off in Aizu. Ripped away from me by her. She speaks of happiness but takes away the two people who truly make me happy."
I can hear his voice waver. This is affecting Saitou more than I expected it would. Without even thinking, I just acted on instinct. I made my way around the table and embraced him lightly, arms resting around his neck. I was slightly surprised when his arms wrapped around my waist. Not totally shocked, though. Human contact is very comforting if you trust the person. That struck me and my eyes widened as I absent-mindedly stroked his hair. Did Saitou trust me? I knew he trusted very few people and the one person he trusted with his sons had betrayed him. The thought he possibly trusted me gave me a warm feeling.
I felt him bury his face into my hair. He was trying so hard not to let his emotions get the better of him. "Saitou, holding it all in will do you no good. Don't let your pride get in the way. You have to let it all out if you want to heal. You can trust me."
With those words spoken, his shoulders began to shake slightly. Tiny tremors that were so slight I wondered briefly if they were really there or not. Whether he was sobbing or laughing at me, I have no idea but I didn't really care much at the moment. It was only a few seconds of tremors, but he held on for many minutes and I would not let him go until he was ready. I offered him this comfort and I had no intentions of withdrawing until he did. I continued to softly stroke his hair, noting it was actually very soft and not the greasy feeling I thought would be there. His grip tightened and then he began to pull away. I braced my hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eye.
"Do you feel at least a little better?"
"Aa. Thank you, Itachi." He looked so exhausted.
"Go get some sleep. You look like crap." I smiled at him and he smirked. That smirk was a sight for sore eyes. I was so worried about him after yesterday, but that smirk was trademark Saitou.
"Is that supposed to be an insult, Itachi?"
I smiled brightly at him. "Why, Saitou! Would I insult you?" I batted my eyelashes innocently and he chuckled quietly.
"You try, but it usually doesn't work." He made it to his room just before my book hit the area he had been standing in.
He came back out right away. "Oi, weasel did you do my laundry?"
I nodded. "I had to occupy myself somehow."
He gave me a slight smile. A true smile that lit up his face. Why didn't he smile like that more often? Oh right. Scary police man mask. Must not show human side. "Thanks, weasel."
"You're welcome. Oyasumi nasai."
"Oyasumi."
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The next morning, Saitou was at his asshole-ish best. I was still getting dressed when I heard his shoji slide open. I had every intention of making breakfast but apparently I wasn't quick enough for his Royal Pain in the Ass.
"Itachi! Where's breakfast?"
You have got to be kidding me. How did Tokio deal with this? Actually, she was more of the traditional wife type. Maybe she was always up earlier than him to have breakfast ready. Well, Saitou if you think Makimachi Misao will wait on you hand and foot…
I limped quickly down the hall and gave Saitou my best Aoshi-glare. "What the hell do you think you're doing ordering me around? I'm not your servant and I'm not your wife so you can just forget about me doing your bidding, you arrogant, loathsome, rotten, no good, baka, wolf!"
Saitou merely raised an eyebrow, the smirk on his face radiating his opinion that he was superior to everyone. "Such a broad vocabulary, weasel. I'm surprised you know so many words."
Oh, for crying out loud! Does this guy have no compassion at all? Just order people around and then insult them. That's the way of the Wolf of Mibu. "I didn't have to cook for you last night, Saitou. I did it out of kindness. Not that you would understand."
Saitou's smirk slipped and his eyes narrowed. I was worried that I had crossed some invisible line. "Kindness? Why do you think I allowed you to stay until you recovered?"
I'm not backing down. "Well, I'm sure Tokio had something to do with that."
Saitou gave me a hard glare and strode for the door. "Forget it. I'm going to work."
"Wait! What about breakfast?" I really didn't mean to make him mad. I was just trying to get him to argue with me, to bring out the Saitou I knew. I know how to handle that Saitou. This new semi-withdrawn Saitou I don't know how to act around.
"I'll get something before work." And then he was gone.
I spent my day the same way I did yesterday, cleaning, dusting, sweeping, and cooking dinner. When Saitou returned late that night I immediately began to reheat his dinner. "You know, if you didn't work so late, dinner would be freshly cooked by the time you came home?"
I saw Saitou's eyebrow quirk at that statement. "Well, Itachi. For someone who was so vehemently denying doing anything for me since she isn't my wife, you sure are acting like a doting wife."
Alright, blush out of embarrassment and get angry. And then I thought about the familiar way I had spoken to him. '…if you didn't work so late…come home…' The anger receded leaving only humiliation in its place. As my blush intensified, I heard Saitou's quiet chuckling. "Never mind, Weasel. Just bring my dinner, will you?"
The statement was a command, but with his gentle tone I couldn't bring myself to be angry with him. After a few bites, he broke the tense silence. "Why don't you read one of those books we were discussing before?"
There was a second of confusion while I tilted my head curiously. This evening had been rather surreal, leaving my mind in a haze. "Oh, the philosophy?"
Saitou nodded and I shook my head. "We've finished all of the ones I had." The thought saddened me. It was something I had shared with Saitou that I never had the opportunity to share with anyone else. I regretted it being over. There had to be something else. I had enjoyed that closeness. Whoa…wait…as absurd as the thought may seem…I did enjoy my evenings with Saitou. "What about the novels I have?"
Saitou gave me a smirk. "I'm not sitting here while you read girly romance books to me."
I rolled my eyes. Is that what he thought of me? That I was some lovesick fool? Incredible. "For your information, Saitou, they are books about many things. There's comedy, action, drama, tragedy, and yes a little romance. But they're books from the 1500s to the 1600s. They were written by a European playwright named William Shakespeare and are considered some of the greatest literary works of all time."
With a thoughtful expression, Saitou leaned back from the table, regarding me silently for a moment. "I suppose I'll give it a shot. Go ahead and pick one. I'll stop you if it's too girly for my tastes."
As I headed for my books a wicked grin covered my face. Too girly, huh? I'll give him girly. Romeo and Juliet. Ah, yes. One of the greatest love stories and tragedies of all time. Oh, how I will enjoy this.
I returned with my precious book, eager to see how he reacted. Flipping it open, I raised the book to shield the devilish smirk trying to break through. At a quiet sigh, I lowered the book to look inquiringly at the wolf. "What?"
His eyelids drooped over amber eyes and he shook his head. "Can you not read anything in Japanese, Itachi?"
I giggled at the English characters in the book. "It keeps my skills in other languages sharp. The Oniwabanshuu may be just a memory but I have no intention of letting all those years of training be forgotten. There's nothing wrong with being educated."
I noticed there was a surge of glee inside me when he opened his eyes again. For the first time I noticed how incredibly beautiful they were and realized I could look into his eyes all day long. Such a silly thought, yet it was true. I shook my head and moved over to a more comfortable position against the wall, noticing Saitou coming over to join me. He leaned against the wall next to me, much like he always did during our philosophy readings.
With renewed mischief, I opened my book and began reading.
"Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair
Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new
mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth
the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers
take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The
fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could
remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which
if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil
shall strive to mend."
I heard a groan at my side and looked at a dismayed Saitou. He slid a hand down his face with his eyes closed and then cracked one open to peer at me, clearly annoyed. "I said no romance books, Itachi."
"No, Saitou. It's not a romance book. It's a tragedy. Just listen. In a few more pages you'll be sucked into the real story of conflict between two families." I smiled lightly at him and he shot me a disbelieving glance.
"If you say so."
I inwardly grinned. He'd be so wrapped up in the story in the next few pages that he'd want to hear the rest. And oh what beautiful material that would be to hold over his head. Fearsome Wolf of Mibu interested in a love story. I held down my giggles and continued.
Within a few minutes, I glanced over out of the corner of my eye to notice him with the same expression that crossed his face each time I read a foreign language. Obviously he was impressed with my knowledge of foreign languages. The eyes narrowed in thought, lips pulled into a thin line, accompanied with curious glances thrown between me and the book. I often wondered if he realized how utterly unguarded he was in those moments.
Brushing my thoughts aside, I continued and within a few minutes, I noticed Saitou had scooted close enough to stare intently at the text in the book. He was slouched down so our heads were even and I felt a peculiar excitement as our arms brushed together. The warmth was comforting and I felt completely safe around him. It was a feeling I had never experienced before. Even with Aoshi-sama, he was so unapproachable most of the time that I was a little apprehensive around him. But with Saitou, I felt at peace. Lost in these thoughts I continued reading on auto-pilot until Saitou jolted me out of my daze.
"Itachi, something wrong?"
I looked over at his small frown and furrowed eyebrows, and momentarily stared into his amber eyes. Shaking myself from my lapse I shook my head. "Sorry, just got lost in thought for a minute. Shall we continue?"
Saitou nodded and closed his eyes, leaning his head against the wall.
A few minutes later, his head drooped onto my shoulder and I realized he had fallen asleep. Really, I had no idea what to do in this situation. I could wake him, but he'd been so exhausted lately and he looked so peaceful and relaxed. I studied his features for a while. His angular face, strong nose and chin, glossy black hair, thin lips, he was very attractive in a severe way. His most amazing feature of course was his breathtaking eyes, sadly closed in his sleep.
I don't know what it was. Something about Saitou was drawing me in, making me feel things I didn't even want to feel for him. He was someone I used to despise; the sight of him would make me curl my lips in distaste before. Now I looked forward to him coming back from work, enjoyed our readings, and treasured the embrace we shared the other night at dinner. It was easier to not like him. If he found out about my feelings there was no doubt he would tease me, embarrass me, humiliate me, and then reject me. In his eyes I was probably still a kid. After all he is nineteen years older than me. At my age he had already lived a lifetime and I'm just now starting to experience real life.
Besides all that, I couldn't even really classify my feelings. I had never felt what I was feeling before, had no comparison for it and therefore didn't understand it. There was no use fretting over it. I would never have a chance at a relationship with Saitou so there was no reason to try to figure out my feelings on the issue. Deciding to just enjoy the moment of unwitting closeness, I closed my eyes and leaned my head against Saitou's, falling asleep quickly.
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A/N: YAY! I've been WAITING to get to this part. This starts the whole point of the story. Yes, five chapters and I'm finally getting to the main plot. Of course, those five chapters were necessary. And it's not quite the way I had imagined it. Saitou was supposed to realize his feelings first, hence the title. But, alas, my stories seem to just run away and do as they wish without me. Ah well. I'll get there eventually. Anyway, please review! Hugs & Kisses!
