This Chapter is dedicated to a certain friend of mine. When she reads this she will know that it's for her *cough* Ritinha *cough*
The two made their way back to the bottom of the schools grounds and around one corner which led to the cafeteria kitchen door. The cafeteria kitchen was towards the centre of the entire school, so there were no windows for the two to fear, but as they approached its double doors, the idea of actually getting into the kitchen lessened.
"Doors locked" said Tomoyo trying to jiggle the handles.
"Like all other doors in this school" added Huni.
As an idea struck Tomoyo, she snapped her fingers and began to dig into her left pocket. She dug out her wallet, opened it up and grabbed her school ID card. Tomoyo inserted the card in between the doors where the hinge crossed from one door to the other. After a click sound, she smiled and pulled the doors open.
"Welcome to Kinomoto Tomoyo-sama's restaurant, please walk this way and seat yourself" she said walking in. Huni chuckled and followed behind.
Inside was like any other school kitchen. They had one long oven towards the sided of one wall, a washing station on the opposite end, a refrigerator that stored several sorts of food and a serving window on the last wall. But through it all, Huni was surprised to see how big the room was; it was as if something had been removed from the centre of the room because of the wide open space. He could've easily played a game of tag with friends if he wanted to.
A dim light shimmered behind him, catching his attention. When he looked, Tomoyo was kneeling in front of the schools refrigerator.
"What do you want eat?" she asked, "Looks like they have some pasta."
Huni stared for a moment before answering, "Pasta's fine."
"Are you sure?" said Tomoyo turning her head back, "I mean, just because I said it doesn't mean we have to eat it."
"No, really, it's fine." reassured Huni.
Tomoyo nodded, "Pasta it is then", she grabbed a box of pasta straws and dropped it off on a counter next to the stove. She then dug through random drawers and covers until she found a semi-large pot. "Can you fill this up with water?", she asked, handing it to Huni.
"S -Sure", he took it, "How much?"
"About half way will do."
As Tomoyo finished her preps, Huni had brought back the pot full of water and set it on one burner. Tomoyo turned the stove on and held a handful of pasta straws in her arms, clutched in between her chest.
While waiting for the water in the pot to boil, the two stayed quiet; not making a single sound, just listening to the storm that continued to rage on outside, and trying to adapt to the sudden change from one intense and mournful subject to another of no relation. It was an awkward moment for the two. Whenever one would gaze into the eyes of the other, the other eyes would slowly shuffle and meet, and once the two pairs of eyes met, they instinctively turned away.
After another five silent minutes, Tomoyo felt herself starting to glower, then forced herself to whisper out, "Eight years?" Huni stared at her direction as if to ask what she had just said. "Eight years?" she said again, this time louder. "It took you eight years to say this to me?" she was half in disbelief.
Huni stuttered before answering. "Y-yeah, I'm sorry."
"Don't be", Huni widened his eyes to what she told him. "Even though it took eight years…I've always waited for the day you finally said something about my mother. But because you didn't know…and nobody ever told you, I can't be mad at you… I'm starting to be mad at myself for always hating you …and for a reason I didn't know until now. You never knew about my mother's death…how did you find out yourself?"
"Remember how we always used to walk to school and back home together?" Tomoyo nodded. "And you remember, that when we were late, we'd always cut through the cemetery to get to school faster? I took that route once. I managed to stumble upon your mother's grave. At first I didn't believe it, but after spending hours staring at it…it finally came to me that it really was her…and that she really was dead."
The two shared a long hard stare, and then Huni continued. "After I found that out, I just couldn't stand showing my face to you…I was young, so as the years gone by, I forgot all about that and started to take your neglection towards me as hatred."
Tomoyo felt deep emotion in her heart. After hearing Huni's story, she still couldn't believe that no one had ever told him. "All I wanted was for you to be there for me like everyone else." she said. "But…now that I think about it, you really were there…you were trying to be there for me…I was just too cooped up in my house crying for my mom all the time that you probably thought that I just hated you."
"I did think that."
"So then…this whole time…none of this was your fault at all-"
"Don't say that." said Huni interrupting. "I acted like an idiot towards you… not knowing that your mother had died is no excuse…''
Sighing, Tomoyo stared at the floor and thought to herself for a moment. "I guess we both had a part to why our relationship got so…unfortunate. How young and stupid we were …and I can't forgive myself for never telling you.''
"That's a harsh thing to s-" before he could finish, Tomoyo had rammed her head right into his chest. Huni was surprised at her action and quickly said "W-what's wrong?"
"I'm sorry", she said in a soft voice, "I'm sorry for the eight years I've spent hating you when you didn't deserve it. Ino asked me if I ever imagined us still friends during that stretch…and the truth is, I did…almost all the time. Please forgive me."
Politely, Huni pushed Tomoyo away. Her eyes showed nothing but what she had just said and expressed. Anyone would have found it hard to not forgive her. It was like not having the will to yell at something so adorable.
"I will…if your pasta is as good as everyone says it is", he used a finger and tipped her chin up and smiled. "I'm hungry so get cooking."
Tomoyo shoved away all her feelings and forced a soft laugh and wiped away a small tear, "A-alright", she said.
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The pasta was warm. Was it as good as the rumours he had heard? He wasn't sure, but he decided for himself that it was one of the best pasta he has ever had. Huni tried to determine if there was anything he could've said to make an attempt to give a negative comment, but all hopes failed. He had to admit to himself.
He loved it.
"I hope it wasn't too…customary", said Tomoyo. She had just gotten done eating her last string of pasta before setting her plate in the kitchens sink. "There wasn't much in this kitchen… so I didn't have much to work with."
After setting his own plate into the sink, Huni said, "Don't worry about it, for what the school has, it was deli-pretty good."
After a moment of silence, Huni took a hold of the kitchens hose and pulled its trigger. He was surprised at the force it had and the water that shot out like bullets was steaming hot. While spraying a plate, he could feel his hand start to burn, so he let go of the hose and gaped with amazement at the school equipment.
"So…does that mean you forgive me?" asked Tomoyo with her hands behind her back.
Huni turned to her. When their eyes met, he slowly shrugged and said, "Eh…why not?"
Tomoyo took a moment for the words to register, then smiled, "Thank you."
When another sound of thunder screamed across the sky, Tomoyo jumped and shifted around towards the tables through the kitchen counters. Now that Huni thought about it, their time in the kitchen was a moment when Tomoyo's fear of thunder vanished. He wasn't sure if she enjoyed cooking, or if cooking is what helped her overcome their situation, but he could tell that thunder was nowhere near her thought and mind up until their silence broke.
He wanted to continue to hinder her fear of thunder.
"Hey", said Huni.
As Tomoyo turned back to him, she saw nothing but a jet of water crushing her face. The force was so strong that she was forced fall back to the floor. When the water had stopped, her uniform top was soaked with dribbles on her skirt. She wiped her face and shook her head.
"What was that for?", she exclaimed while glaring at him.
"You always liked getting wet didn't you?" Huni smiled while shrugging. Before Tomoyo was able to reply, he squeezed the hose trigger again, letting out another string of water, pulsating at Tomoyo who held her hands out, trying to protect herself. When Huni stopped, he heard laughs coming from Tomoyo that made him cringe…it was like something from a horror movie. "What a scary laugh…."
Before Huni was able to register what had just happened, Tomoyo had jumped to her feet and pushed him up against the sink, dropping the hose. Huni took the opportunity and grabbed the hose, pulled the trigger and aimed at Tomoyo's face from such a close range.
A rush of water flew intensely through Huni's nostrils. He found himself dropping to the floor and being sprayed by Tomoyo. When the water stopped, Huni heard Sakura giggling.
"How's that, mister?"
Huni glared with an evil eye and smiled, "You little twit". He jumped towards Sakura.
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"Idiot, you're so clumsy", said Tomoyo while touching her shoulder slightly
"Hey, the floor was wet and I slipped", replied Huni holding a bloody forearm.
"You're just lucky the knives didn't land on us."
"No shit!" agreed Huni.
The water fight they had was surprisingly a joy to both. Tomoyo admitted to herself that she never thought of having the fun she did with the person she once hated. Though she didn't know if Huni felt the same, she was sure that he enjoyed it just as much as she did. Even though their cloths were soaked going on damp, the fun they had seemed to relinquish the thought of it.
During the friendly fight, Huni had slipped and landed on top of Tomoyo. During the fall, he tried grabbing onto a nearby object. With his left hand he ended up hitting a holster of kitchen knives. Although he hit his forearm when he landed on the floor he was lucky that none of the knifes landed on top of him or Tomoyo.
Tomoyo, when she fell she hit her shoulder on the ground which now was hurting a lot.
Now in front of the nurse's office, Tomoyo dug back into her left pocket and drew out her ID card. She dug it into the hinges and just as she felt the bolt open up, her card snapped in two.
"Well, looks like we're not opening any more doors", said Tomoyo glowering then sarcastically adding, "Great!"
The two entered the nurse's office. Huni followed Tomoyo's instructions and took a seat in the nurse's chair behind the office table. Tomoyo searched for a light switch, but when she found it, it ended up being a key switch. She groaned and continued what she had originally planned to do.
She opened a drawer and dug out a black bottle with a white cap. After a smile and acknowledgement, she walked back across the room to Huni and kneeled in front of him.
Sakura opened the bottle up and poured a strong amount onto a handkerchief, "Show me your fist", she said.
Huni did so, revealing his still purple fist that he had gotten for punching the school walls twice.
"Wait…" Huni started, "Isn't that-" before he could finish, Tomoyo had already pushed the handkerchief flat onto his fist. A strong burning and stinging feeling rushed from his hand and up his arm. He felt like screaming, but held it in. When Tomoyo lifted the handkerchief, it was colored of blood. Huni jumped up from the seat and swung his hand around. "It burns, it burns, it burns, it fucking burns!" he cried.
"I'm not done yet!" said Tomoyo in a commanding voice, "Come back here!"
Uneasily, Huni found the courage to retake his seat and hold his palm out. Tomoyo took out a roll of bandage from the same drawer and pulled it out, wrapping it tightly around Huni's palm. She finished wrapping the bandage with a knot on top of his hand. After finishing treating his hand she diverted her gaze towards his forearm and repeated the same process.
"Feel better?"
"No…" said Huni
"Quit complaining" exclaimed Sakura.
Huni sunk into the chair and spun around in it. Tomoyo walked around the desk and leaned back against it, back facing Huni. She then began to lift her uniform shirt off but stopped at Huni's voice.
"W-w-what are you doing?"
Tomoyo turned her head halfway back and said, "Don't worry… I have nothing to see, remember?"
For a reason Huni didn't even know; the joke he once said to her didn't seem as joyful as it once did. Now, he felt hammered, grudged and malevolent. He was surprised at the way he reacted just now to her comment. But when Tomoyo completely took off her school shirt, Huni saw that she wore a small black bra. Was he amazed? He didn't know. He just didn't expect that Tomoyo would strip right in front of him.
Coiling her damp shirt in her hands, she tossed it onto a chair across the room to her side. Then she took the bloody handkerchief and added more of the black liquid onto it. Just as she was about to lay it onto her shoulder, Huni grabbed her wrist.
"You really have got to stop falling asleep in class", he said. He took the handkerchief away from her and threw it into the garbage. Huni then took a spongy coil and wetted it with the same substance. "Never use the same cloth with someone else's blood."
Jumping onto the desk, Tomoyo stared off to the side, blushing at her stupidity. "I…knew that", she felt a cold liquid fabric touch her as Huni applied the coil, then a burning and stinging feeling crawled from her shoulder up towards her neck. When she slowly stared back at Huni, Tomoyo mentally flinched seeing that his eyes were sturdy at her face. Their eyes met and then Tomoyo had the feeling to ask, "Why aren't you looking?"
Huni shook his head and made a face, "What?"
"You're trying really hard not to look down aren't you?"
Huni's eyes broadened, "What do you mean?"
"Aww come on, am I really that flat or are you just trying not to be a pervert?"
"That's a trick question and I don't even know why you're asking me this!" replied Huni.
"I don't wear padded bras you know…are you surprised to see me even wearing a bra?"
Now, Huni couldn't believe the conversation he was having. "Ack, shut up little one."
"Little one? Are you talking about me or my bust?" Tomoyo retorted. She flailed kicks towards Huni, but after unintentionally hitting him in the abs, she gasped and stopped. "I'm sorry."
Huni held his stomach and said, "That's fine."
"I-I'm sorry…It's just…" she trailed off and stared at the dark ground. Moments later, she felt Huni applying a squared band-aid onto her shoulder. "It's just that… it always got me mad whenever you talked about…me…physically, you know? Calling me 'flat-chest'' or even 'shorty', I hated it all. It really got me mad."
After a minute, Huni said, "I know…I'm sorry. But…let's stop talking about this."
Tomoyo hesitated to answer. "Yeah…okay." She felt completely embarrassed to have even brought up the subject. Looking at Huni, she could tell that he was just as embarrassed defending himself from the subject. "I shouldn't have brought it up."
Ignoring the subject matter, Huni noticed Tomoyo yawning and suggested that they spend the night—or early morning—on the nurse's medic beds. There were only two rooms, but each room had its own bed, so the two decided to each sleep in one room each.
Leaving her damp shirt on the chair she threw it on, Tomoyo got comfortable in her bed, she began to close her eyes, but saw Huni standing in the doorway. She stared at him as he did her and said, "Good night", in a soft voice. She yawned once more.
"Sleep well", he started to leave, but just as he took his second step towards the other bedroom across the room, he stopped and turned back into the doorway. "You know…if it…makes you happy, they were little… but like all little ones, extremely attractive."
As Tomoyo registered what Huni had just said, she giggled in her blanket. "Pervert… you-" as she yawned, she instantly fell asleep without saying another word.
Huni laughed to himself, "Night, night…little one", after another moment, Huni made his way to his own room and fell fast asleep in the bed.
*End of Chapter 4*
Author's Notes: 2 more chapters to go and then I'll get back to my other fic. That's a promise! Hmmmmm, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review!