Sunday morning came by rather fast. Yamato awoke on the sofa alone. He glanced around himself, expecting to see Sera but didn't. He got up from the sofa and stretched. From afar, he heard distant noises of dishes clattering against each other. Realizing where Sera had gone to, Yamato made his way over to the kitchen. In there he saw Sera mixing a bowl of what seemed like pancake mix. Not wanting to disrupt her concentration (because currently, Sera was really focused with the bowl and whisk at hand that she has her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth) Yamato leaned against the wall and watched.
"I think that should be good enough," Sera told herself before placing the whisk onto a clean napkin. Slowly, she pour a bit of the pancake batter into the hot frying pan and began moving the frying pan in circular motion, "this is harder than it looks," she complained. Not willing to give up, Sera placed the pan back on the stove and waited for the bottom part of the pancake to cook. After a few minutes of waiting, she grabbed the spatula and with all her might, flipped the pancake over. But then she failed as she got pancake batter all over the stove.
Sera pouted.
Yamato chuckled.
Sera jumped and spun around to see a laughing Yamato by the wall, "What's so funny?" she demanded to know in a cute voice.
Yamato slapped his thighs a bit before calming himself down, "The pancake batter didn't even make it into the pan," he pointed out.
Sera put on a sad face and turned off the stove, "I was going to surprise you with breakfast but it seemed like that person doesn't want it so I'm just going to leave now," she tore the apron off of her and began stomping away.
Yamato reached out and caught her by the wrist just when she walked pass, "I'm sorry," he apologized, "but come here," he dragged Sera back into the kitchen and got rid of the failed pancake in the pan. He sprayed a layer of cooking oil from can named Pam and set the pan back on the stove, "you have to wait for the pan to heat up first before pouring your batter in," he instructed. Sera, not wanting to be taught the correct way to making pancake, crossed her arms and looked away. Yamato too noticed of her stubborn attitude but ignored it.
That has always been one of Sera's habits. Whenever Yamato tried to teach her something new (especially when deep down she knew that she didn't get it right) she would pout, cross her arms and look away. She acted as if she wasn't paying attention when reality was, she was paying attention.
"When the oil is hot enough, you pour in the batter but slowly though," Yamato grabbed the bowl of batter slowly poured the mixture in, "Don't try to move the pan in circular motion. Instead, let the batter sit there and cook for about a good two to three minutes," he waited for the batter to cook on the bottom first.
"But how do you know when it's ready to be flipped?" Sera asked.
"Oh, so you are paying attention," Yamato teased.
Sera pouted again and looked away.
This caused Yamato to laugh, "Well you'll have to test it out," he grabbed the spatula and placed it under the pancake, "If you can pick up the pancake with the spatula without having any of the batter drip then it's ready to be flipped," he flipped the batter over, "But you have to flip quickly or else it'll get all over the place," he said and eyed the dirty mess that he'll have to clean up afterwards.
"Sorry about that," Sera apologized with her head hanging, "I didn't mean to."
Yamato glanced at her and smiled. He placed the spatula back on the counter and cupped her face in his hands, "Hey look at me," he said softly, lifting Sera's face so that she can look him in the eyes, "I'm not mad at you," he said, "I just think it's cute that you don't know how to cook pancake."
Sera pouted again.
"But I'll teach you," he lets go of Sera and grabbed the spatula. He scooped the fully cooked pancake from the pan and placed it on the empty plate next to the stove, "come here," he grabbed for Sera's hand and forced her to stand in front of him. Yamato grabbed the oil spraying can and sprayed some oil in it then grabbed the bowl. He took both of Sera's hands and placed them where his hands used to be, "slowly pour it in," he instructed.
Sera obliged.
"I'll tell you when to stop," he said.
Sera continued to pour.
"That should be good enough," Yamato told her. He took the bowl from Sera and placed it back on the counter, "now time to do the waiting game," he stated.
The two of them stood there in front of the stove waiting for the bottom side of the pancake to cook. Sera at the front and Yamato standing directly behind her. She could feel his body heat radiating off of him onto her. It was a good thing that Yamato was standing behind her and not in the front because right now, Sera was turning red, as red as a tomato. Yamato had to try his best to not wrap Sera into his arms, spin her around and smack a kiss on her lips. Didn't help that her smell was intoxicating him at the moment.
"Is…is it ready to be flipped now?" came Sera's soft voice.
Yamato shook his head and cleared his throat, "Um…yeah," he grabbed the spatula and handed it to her, "here, take a hold of the spatula."
Sera grabbed it and slid it beneath pancake. Yamato placed his hand over Sera's and immediately she felt a jolt of shock run through her. Her heart began beating faster and faster every seconds Yamato took to help guide her to flip the pancake. She gulped and felt like a bucket of water was being poured down her face, "Ready…," Yamato said behind her, 'and flip," quickly and swiftly, he guided Sera's hands and together they both successfully flipped the pancake over, "you did it," he said happily.
Sera smiled and immediately pulled her hands out from his, "I…think I'm going to go wash up," she said. Sera had to make up an excuse to get away from Yamato because currently, she couldn't control the beating of her heart or the way Yamato is making her feel, "where's the restroom?" she asked.
"The first door to your left down the hallway," Yamato answered.
Sera nodded her head and quickly disappeared from Yamato's sight. Once inside the restroom, she splashed cold water on her face, "Get ahold of yourself Sera," she hissed to her reflection, "what has gotten into you?" she glanced down at her hands, "that shock, I wonder if he felt it too," she murmured, rubbing the hand that Yamato had touch.
She didn't know how long she had locked herself in the restroom because there was a knock at the door, "Sera, breakfast is ready," she jumped from hearing Yamato's voice.
"Ah..I'll be there in a bit," she called. Sera splashed a few more rounds of cold water on her face first before wiping it with the towel hanging in the restroom. She exited the restroom and made her way back to the eating area. She sat down and waited for Yamato to fill up two cups of orange juice.
"Here you go," he said and placed it in front of her, "not sure if you're an orange juice fan but if you aren't, I can get you water."
"It's fine," Sera chimed, "I love orange juice."
Just the way you did back then.
Yamato thought to himself. He smiled and began digging in.
"Yamato," Sera called, breaking the silence that surrounded them, "tell me about your family."
"My family?" Yamato asked.
Sera nodded.
Yamato gulped down the piece of pancake in his mouth and took a sip from his cup, "Well I have a dad and a mom…"
Sera nodded and stared intently at him.
"And….a sister," he partially lied.
"You do?" Sera beamed, "I would like to meet her."
"She doesn't live in Japan," Yamato lied, "she got married and moved to the United States with her husband."
"Oh, that sounds awesome."
"Yeah I guess you can say that," Yamato poked fork holes into his pancake.
"So does that mean that your parents are still living here?" Sera asked, noticing that Yamato stopped talking and instead was playing with his food.
"Yeah," he answered.
"I would like to meet them too," Sera beamed.
"Sure," Yamato said.
"Really?"
Yamato nodded, "One day when I'm not too busy. The both of us can go visit them in Kyoto," he lied.
"So you're from Kyoto?" she asked.
"Yeah," Yamato answered, "I was born there but I moved here to pursue my dreams."
"Wow, that's so awesome," Sera chimed.
"Tell me about your family Sera," Yamato said.
"Hm…my family…well, I lost my father while my mom was giving birth to me so I never got the chance to see how he looked like."
"I'm sorry," Yamato said, reaching out to grab ahold of her hand.
Sera smiled, "It's okay. Growing up, my mom told me great stories of my father. How loving he was. How he built my crib instead of purchasing one," she sighed, "I've seen photos of my father and he does look like a very loving and caring father."
"I'm sure he is," Yamato said.
"After many years of being a single mother while raising me, my mother started dating three months ago," Sera went on, "she met a man named Kazakiri Jin who is the CEO to the biggest music entertainment in Japan."
"Kazakiri Jin? I've heard of him," Yamato stated, "it's always been my dream to get the chance to work with him."
"Really?" Sera beamed, "I think that I might be able to hook you up with that."
"That'll be awesome," Yamato said.
Sera fell silent.
"What's the matter?" he asked, "you fell silent all of a sudden."
"It's just that, after three months of dating Kazakiri-san, my mother told me that she'll be marrying him soon," Sera sadly said.
"You don't approve of them?" Yamato asked, wanting to know how Sera truly felt about his father's relationship with her mother.
"It's not that I don't," Sera stated, "but I'm just afraid that my image of the loving and caring father existed while I was in my mother's womb would disappear once Kazakiri-san walks in. He looks like a great guy who truly loves my mother and I do want my mother to be happy but…" she sighed, "I guess I'm just scared with all these new changes."
"Sera," Yamato called softly, catching her attention from across the table, "I agree that it must be a scary thing to deal with all these new changes but…although we may have only known each other for a few days, you can always come to me and talk about stuff. I'll be here waiting for you," he suggested.
Sera smiled and nodded, "Definitely," she answered, "Although we've only met for a few days, I've felt like we've known each other for eternity already."
"Same here," Yamato said with a smile.
After cleaning up the kitchen and the sleep area in the living room, Yamato walked Sera down to the parking garage, "You sure you don't want me to send you?" he asked.
"I'll catch a taxi," Sera answered, "I've already asked too much from you already." She smiled at Yamato and walked away without saying goodbye. Yamato didn't stop her either. Sera stopped midway in her walk and spun back around. She ran up to Yamato and stopped in front of him.
"Did you forget something?" he asked.
Sera nodded.
"I can go get it for you," he suggested.
Sera shook her head.
"Then what is…" Yamato stopped talking as soon as Sera tip toed and kissed him on the cheek.
"Thank for you letting me stay for the night," She said with a huge smile, "I'll see you around sometimes," she waved bye to a still stunned Yamato and walked away.
Yamato couldn't believe it. Somehow he had made his way back to his apartment but the scene of Sera kissing him on the cheek continued to replay in his head. He closed the door to his apartment and slid down the door, "She kissed me…," he muttered to himself while displaying a huge satisfied smile on his face.
The door to the café opened and Sera walked in. Amu glanced up from the cash register and immediately ran up to her friend, "Where were you last night?" the older one asked, "I tried calling your phone but you never picked up. I was so worried about you after finding out that there was a blizzard."
"I accidentally left my phone here," Sera told Amu, "did you find it?" she asked.
Amu shook her head.
"What do you mean?" Sera asked, "I was right there yesterday and my phone was sitting right here next to my papers," she said, pointing a finger at where she was at yesterday night.
"I came in this morning and nothing was here," Amu told her.
Sera rubbed her hair in frustration and squat down to see if she had placed it in the shelves below the counter, "It has to be here somewhere," she muttered.
"If you don't have your phone then who does?" Amu asked.
"I don't know," Sera answered, "last night it was just me and Yamato here."
"Do you think Yamato-san took it by accident?" Amu pondered.
"I don't think so because if he did, he would have given it to me," Sera stated and got up from her squatting position.
"Where did you go last night?" Amu asked, "I tried calling your house phone but you didn't pick up either."
Sera hopped onto the chair sitting behind the register counter and spun in circles, "I was at Yamato's place."
Amu gasped loudly. She ran up to her friend and stopped her from spinning, "What?" she squealed.
"After hearing that there was going to be a blizzard soon, Yamato suggested me to stay at his place for the night since my place was too far away. I didn't want to bother you so I accepted his offer."
"Where was your mom?" Amu asked.
"She was bunking at Kazakiri-san's place last night," Sera answered.
Amu squealed even more, "So mother went to spend time with her future husband and daughter went to spend time with her future soul mates," she jumped up and down like a kid with cotton candy, "this is so cute!"
"Amu, you're creeping me out," Sera said, moving away from her friend.
The door to the café opened and Tusk strolled in, "Good morning Sera-san," he greeted, "and Amu-san, good morning."
Sera got up from the chair, "Good morning Tusk," she greeted him.
"Sera," Tusk walked up to the counter and sat down on the bar stool, "are you busy today?" he asked.
"Kind of, why?" Sera answered.
"Well I was thinking…," he glanced at Amu and then back at Sera then back at Amu, "Amu-san, can I borrow Sera for the day?" he asked.
"That depends on what you're trying to do to her?" Amu teased.
"I wanted her to go on a movie date with me," Tusk said.
"Sure, fine with me," Amu replied.
"But…Amu…"
"I'll have Leo come help me," Amu said before Sera got the chance to say anything else.
"Since when did you become fond of Leo?" Sera asked.
"I'm not," Amu answered, "but who else can I call when Kasumi is busy with Takaharu? And you're busy with Tusk so I might as well ring up Leo."
"I guess you do have a point there," Sera stated.
"So is that a yes?" Tusk asked.
Sera shrugged and walked over to him, "I guess," she answered. Tusk smiled and motioned for Sera to walk ahead.
"After you," he stated.
Sera chuckled and walked off first. Tusk spun around and gave Amu a thumbs up and a wink before following Sera.
Author's Note: Ah...Sera...I'm so proud of you. :D
